The Importance of Respect
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Set in season 7 of NCIS and Season 1 of NCIS: Los Angeles. Tim finally has enough of his collegues treatment of him and asks to be transfered. With the Help of the LA team, can he finally gain the respect he should've had all along?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, or any of their characters.**

**The Importance of Respect**

Tim walked into Director Vance's office one morning.

"Can I help you, Agent McGee?" Vance asked.

"I hope so, Director. I wanna be transferred," Tim said. He'd finally had enough. He just couldn't deal with the abuse anymore. He couldn't deal with Tony's cruel comments and not so funny jokes. He couldn't deal with Abby taking advantage of him time and time again and he couldn't deal with Gibbs doing absolutely nothing to stop any of it. He'd reached the end of his rope. He loved his job, but he was beginning to dislike the people he worked with.

Vance wished he could say he was surprised by the request, but he wasn't. In the short time he'd been director, he'd seen how Team Gibbs treated the kid. It was like he was nothing more than a whipping boy to them. They used him when it was convenient for them and then either ignored him or knocked him down. The second was more frequent. So, no, Vance wasn't surprised. In fact, what surprised him was that it took McGee this long to ask for a transfer. "Okay."

"O...Okay? You're not going to ask why?" Tim asked in surprise. He thought for sure Vance would want to probe into the reason for his request. He was also sure that once he knew the reason, he would tell him to suck it up or something like Gibbs would.

"Nope. Your reasons are obvious. The fact that you waited this long actually says a lot for your tolerance level. I'm assuming you want out of the DC office completely, correct?" Vance asked. He knew Gibbs and his team very well. They would make McGee feel like a traitor for leaving the team. His only real option was to be transferred to a new location.

"Yes sir. Just leaving the team won't be enough. I can already hear the things they'd say. I need a clean break. A chance to start over," Tim said.

Vance nodded. "Understandable. There's an open position down at the LA office for a junior field agent."

"Agent Callen's team," Tim commented. He remembered them. They'd worked a case with their team not too long ago. They were a nice group of people. The only thing was they were an undercover team and Tim had done very little undercover work.

"That's right. Hetty supervises it. So what do you say?" Vance asked.

"Well, it's a great opportunity, but they specialize in undercover assignments. It's not exactly my forte," Tim said.

"From what I've been told, neither was field work when you first started. You learn, McGee. That's the only way anyone gets anywhere," Vance said.

"Yeah, if someone's willing to teach," Tim said under his breath as he thought about his present team. They had taught him a lot about being a field agent, but they'd also neglected to do so in a lot of areas. Gibbs would just have him do the computer stuff most of the time and have Tony and Ziva do the rest. It was like he was saying that Tim wasn't capable of doing a lot of the field work.

Vance heard him and had to admit he agreed with. Gibbs was a good agent in all, but he had a lot to learn too, especially when it came to training. "I think you'll find the LA team much different than Gibbs'. Don't get me wrong, they may be hard on you at first to teach you, but I've seen each and every one of them in gear. I handpicked each of them. They're good and they know the meaning of professionalism. Well, most of the time."

Tim chuckled. "Okay, Director. I gladly accept. When do I start?"

"Give me a couple of weeks to get things together. I have to process the transfer and I also have to apprise Hetty of the situation. This will also give you a chance to settle anything you have to here," Vance explained.

"What about Gibbs? He's not going to be happy when he finds out," Tim said. He could just imagine how the older man would react when he found out. The next couple of weeks would be hell if Gibbs found out.

"Agent Gibbs will be informed of your transfer once you've left for LA," Vance said, realizing exactly what the young agent was worried about.

McGee smiled. "Thanks, Director."

"I suggest you start getting everything together," Vance said.

"Yes sir," Tim said before leaving the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Special Agent G Callen sat at his desk with a very large fried chicken sandwich for lunch.

"I can't believe you eat that crap every day," Sam said.

"I can't believe you say that every day," Callen retorted.

"I can't believe I have to listen to the two of you every day," Kensi commented in bored voice.

"Whatever, G, it's your funeral," Sam said.

"Oh yeah, I chase terrorists for a living, but I'm going to get killed by a chicken sandwich," Callen said sarcastically.

"Very astute, Mr. Callen," Hetty said as she came into the squad room carrying a folder.

"New case, Hetty?" Callen asked.

"New agent," Hetty corrected.

"We don't need a new agent," Sam said stiffly. They were all still reeling from the loss of Dom. Needless to say they weren't really thrilled about someone taking his place.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid Director Vance disagrees with you. As I was saying, we will be getting a new agent. He's joining us from Headquarters in Washington DC. I believe you've all met him actually. His name is Timothy McGee."

"That name sounds vaguely familiar," Callen said.

"It should. I believe he came down with Agent Gibbs to help with a case when Macy was still here," Kensi said.

"Oh, yeah, I think he handled a lot of tech work with Eric," Sam said.

"Why's he transferring?" Callen wondered. Usually there was a reason for people to just up and transfer, especially if they worked in MCRT. That was a dream job.

"The Director has not said, which means that it is none of our business," Hetty said.

"When does he get here?" Kensi asked.

"Two weeks from today."

"Great," Sam said before getting up and walking away. He was clearly not happy about any of this.


	2. Chapter 2

The two weeks practically flew by for Tim and before he knew it, he was standing in front of the NCIS office in LA. Now that he was there, his stomach was in knots. He just wasn't sure if this was going to turn out the way he wanted it to. He liked to think that things would be different here and they'd all seemed nice when he met them last year, but he just didn't know.

Tim took a deep breath and walked inside. He showed his badge to security and continued on his way. Before he knew it, an elderly woman was headed his way.

"Timothy McGee I presume?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tim said politely. He assumed this had to be Hetty.

"Good to meet you. Follow me and I'll take you to your new team," Hetty said before turning in the other direction.

Tim followed her into the bullpen. There were three other agents sitting at their desks. Tim recognized them all from the case they worked together.

"When's the new guy getting here?" Kensi asked.

"Right now, Ms. Blye. I'm sure you all remember Mr. McGee, and vice versa, but just in case there is any confusion, Mr. McGee, meet Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna, and Ms. Blye. I'll leave you all to get acquainted."

Callen stood up to greet him. He held out his hand. "Nice to see you again."

Tim shook his hand. "You too, sir." He wasn't sure how else to address Callen. The man was in charge of him, so he might want to be addressed in a certain way.

Callen raised an eyebrow. That was the first time he'd been called 'sir' by an agent on his team before. Despite the fact that he was in charge of the team, well, other than Hetty of course, he liked to keep things as informal as possible.

The others snickered and chuckled. "You're gonna give him a big head," Kensi said.

"And if his head gets any bigger it might explode," Sam joked.

"You're both hilarious," Callen said sarcastically before turning his attention back to their newest addition. "Seriously though, it's just Callen, or G, which ever you prefer."

Tim nodded. He was a little surprised by the man though, especially when the other two made fun of him. If Tony or Ziva had made fun of Gibbs like that, they would've gotten a hard stare and possibly a head slap.

"How about you? What do you like? McGee? Timothy? Tim?" Callen asked.

Tim was caught a little off guard by the question. No one at NCIS had ever asked him that before. They just called him what they wanted, whether it be his name or not. It was actually nice to be asked. To be offered that small consideration. "Um, Tim's fine."

Callen moved towards an empty desk. "So, Tim, this will be your desk. You'll be partnered with Kensi."

"Okay," Tim said as he walked over to the desk that he'd been designated to and started putting his stuff down.

"Now things work a bit differently here than they do in DC. We're at an undisclosed location and it's important it stays that way. You can't give anyone this address," Callen said seriously.

"I wouldn't. The only outsiders who know I even work for NCIS are my family. I make a point not to tell people," Tim said.

"That's smart. It would also be smart for you to switch up your routine. Never take the same route to work in the morning. You're just asking for trouble. And follow your instincts. If you think someone's tailing you it probably means they are. I'm sure you've heard some of this from Gibbs, but it can't hurt to hear it again," Callen said.

"Got it," Tim said.

"You should also be aware that this job is a lot more dangerous than the one you're used to. We deal with hardcore guys here who usually don't stop to chat. They see someone with a badge, they shoot. That's what you're gonna have to learn to do. If your life or the life of your teammate is on the line, you shoot first and ask questions later," Callen said.

Tim nodded.

"So how much undercover work have you done? Callen asked as he went and sat back down at his own desk.

Tim cringed. He knew his zero experience wouldn't impress his new leader. "Um, not much."

Callen shrugged. "Eh, everyone starts somewhere, right?"

Tim breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that. Things already seemed better here. If he'd told Gibbs what he'd just told Callen, Gibbs would be annoyed with his lack of experience.

"Just try not to get yourself killed while you're learning," Sam said before getting up and walking away from them all.

"Try not to take it personally. We recently lost an agent. It was the hardest on, Sam. He was there when he got shot," Callen said sadly.

Tim nodded understandingly. He knew what it was like to lose someone like that. It had been just as hard for them when Kate died. "Yeah, trust me, I know the feeling."

"Unfortunately, I think every agent does at one point or another," Callen said. "Anyway, Sam is right about one thing. We need to limit the chances of you getting killed. That means some hardcore training. We'll start this afternoon.

Tim was a little nervous about this 'hardcore' training. He thought he had that already with Gibbs, but Callen was making it sound like it would be more rigorous. "Um, okay."

Callen laughed a little at the younger man's nervousness. "Alright, I'm not lie to you. It will suck at first, but eventually you'll get used to it and it will serve you well out there. And I'm sure you've had some decent training, right?"

"Yeah. Gibbs always insisted on us having decent training. Not that I had to use it that often." He said the last part to himself.

"Huh?" Callen asked.

"Nothing," Tim said.

"Okay, so you said you haven't had much undercover experience. What have you done?" Callen asked. He wanted to get a feel for exactly what Tim was good at so he knew where he was and how to get him to where he needed to be.

"Um, well, I've processed crime scenes, but most of what I did involved computers. I would decrypt codes, dig up financials, and even hack on occasion," Tim said. Actually it was more like all the time that he hacked into systems, but that was beside the point.

"No interrogation?" Kensi asked surprised. That was just weird. Every agent interrogated.

"Very little," Tim said uncomfortably as he was once more reminded how little he'd learned because his team didn't think he could handle it. No, not his team. They weren't his team anymore. This was his team. And they'd already treated him better than his last team ever had.

Callen eyed him for a minute. He believed he'd just uncovered at least one of the reasons Tim had transferred. From the way he was acting, it seemed it wasn't Tim's choice to just do computer stuff. "Well, I hope you're not attached to computer work because you won't be doing it a lot anymore. We already have a good computer tech. What we need is a field agent."

Tim smiled. It looked like he was finally going to get treated like a real field agent. He wasn't going to be stuck behind a desk anymore because his team didn't think he handle the field work. "Trust me; I'm absolutely fine with that."

"Okay. Hetty's probably got a bunch of paperwork for you to fill out, so I'm gonna go get it," Callen said. He then got up and walked down to Hetty's office.

"How is it going out there, Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked.

"Alright. Sam still isn't happy. He sees Tim as a replacement for Dom. Kensi hasn't really said much, so I'm not sure where she's at right now," Callen said.

"And Mr. McGee?" Hetty questioned.

"He seems like a good guy. His lack of experience troubles me a little. No undercover experience, no interrogation experience. In fact, he seems to only have experience on computers," Callen said.

"You don't think you can teach him?" Hetty asked.

"Oh, no, I'm sure I can teach him. What troubles me as that he hasn't already been taught. He's been an agent for over seven years. A field agent for six out of those seven. So why hasn't he done any undercover work? Why does he have so little field experience at all? He obviously wants it," Callen said.

"Maybe no one has cared to teach him," Hetty said.

"I hope you're wrong about that," Callen said. He didn't want to believe that Gibbs, his friend, could neglect his own agent's training like that.

"As do I, Mr. Callen. Now here is Mr. McGee's paperwork. I'm sure he is anxious to get it over with," Hetty said.

Callen took the paperwork and headed back towards the others.


	3. Chapter 3

Tim found himself being slammed onto one of the mats in the gym floor by Callen for like the fifth time. He groaned out in pain. The dude was strong. "Know what your mistake was?"

"Not being in bubble wrap," Tim said half-jokingly. He

Callen laughed. "You got distracted by Kensi.

Kensi had called out to Tim right before Callen body slammed him. Callen must have told her to do that so that he could demonstrate a point.

"Never turn your back on an opponent, ever. You give them an advantage over you and that is how you end up dead," Callen said.

"Right," Tim groaned.

Callen got up and held his hand out for Tim. "Alright, I think I've bruised you enough for one day." They'd been at it for over an hour, so he figured it was time to call it a day with the training.

Tim gladly took Callen's hand and allowed him to help him up. "Thanks."

Kensi came over to him. "Sorry about that. Callen wanted to make a point. It's an important one too. Don't feel bad though. I think we've all fallen for that one in training at one point."

"Callen was right, I shouldn't have turned away," Tim said. He was kicking himself for doing so. He wasn't a rookie. He should've known better.

"It's not a big deal. Callen knew you would most likely turn to me. That's why he wanted it done. He wanted to make sure you knew not to do that on the field. It's very dangerous out there for us, more so than any other unit. That's why this building undisclosed and our identities are kept secret for the most part. Callen once even attended traffic school under an alias. That's how dangerous it is for us," Kensi explained.

Tim nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kensi asked.

"Sure," he said.

"Why were you transferred? A MCRT is a dream job for most NCIS agents, and it's certainly less dangerous," Kensi asked.

Tim wasn't sure how to answer that. He didn't want to tell her the truth because he didn't want anyone thinking of him as a coward who couldn't suck it up and deal with his problems with this team. He didn't want them to see him as unreliable. "I just needed a change."

"Meaning you don't want to talk about it. You're gonna have to tell me eventually though. Partners shouldn't have secrets from each other. I mean, you didn't have secrets from your last partner, did you?" Kensi asked.

Tim shifted uncomfortably. "I haven't really had a partner before. There were only three of us not including our team leader."

"So you guys switched it up a lot?" Kensi asked.

"Well, no, not really. It's like I said earlier, I did mostly computer work," Tim said.

"Doesn't DC have an entire unit for that?" Kensi asked.

Tim was saved from answering by the sound of his phone. Unfortunately, when he saw who was calling, he realized that it was not a distraction he wanted. Gibbs' name came up on the caller ID.

"You gonna answer that?" Kensi asked.

"No," Tim said before pressing 'ignore' and putting the phone back in his pocket. He had no desire to talk to Gibbs. Or more accurately, to listen to Gibbs scream at him. "I better hit the showers."

Kensi nodded and watched him go. Just as he was leaving, Sam was walking by. "Hey."

"Hey. How is it with the new guy?"

"Alright. Callen kicked his ass in training, but I think he'll be okay once he learns. Are you okay?" Kensi asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sam asked.

"It's obvious that you're not happy about Tim being here," Kensi said. He'd made his displeasure about their new member really clear. She missed Dom a lot too, but she recognized that Tim was not, nor was he trying to be a replacement for Dom.

"And you are?"

"He's not a replacement for Dom. You do realize that, don't you?" Kensi asked.

"We don't need a new agent," Sam said gruffly.

Kensi was quiet for a minute as she seemed to contemplate what to say next. "Well, maybe he needs us. There's a reason he was transferred, Sam, and it wasn't just because we needed another agent or he wanted more action."

Sam frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"His body language for one. He got really quiet and edgy when I asked him about it. Also no one travels across country for a job without a really good reason, especially if they work in a major case unit.

"What are we talking about?" Callen asked as he walked over to them.

"The new guy. Kensi thinks there's a story behind his transfer," Sam said.

"So do I, but it's not for us to speculate on. He'll tell us when he's ready," Callen said. The way he said it made it clear that it was a silent order to back off. It wasn't often that he made such orders. Things were mostly relaxed with all of them. However, there were a few times when he made his position quite clear. This was one of those times. If Hetty was right about Tim and Gibbs, he didn't want the kid pushed. If and when he wanted them to know, he'd tell them.

"Got it, G," Sam said. He'd gotten the message immediately.

"We're clear, Callen," Kensi said.

Callen nodded and walked away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About forty minutes later, Tim was at his desk staring at his phone. The others weren't back yet. He was looking at his phone and wondering whether or not he should listen to the message Gibbs had left him. He didn't really wanna hear Gibbs' cutting remarks, but a part of him felt like he was obligated to do so.

Tim was pulled from his thoughts when he felt another presence. He looked up to see a guy with dark hair. He recognized him as someone he'd met while there with Gibbs last year.

"Hello. Agent McGee, right? I think we met a while back."

"Doctor… Getz?" Tim asked.

"Good memory. Just call me Nate though. We're all pretty informal here," Nate said.

"Yeah, I'm getting that. I'm Tim then," he said.

"Well, welcome to the team, Tim," Nate said.

Tim smiled gratefully before going back to staring at his phone.

"Waiting for a call?" Nate asked.

"Actually, the call already came. I'm wondering if I should listen to the message," Tim said.

"If you don't mind me asking, why wouldn't you?" Nate asked.

"Because I know I'm not gonna like whatever the person has to say," Tim said.

"Then why would you?" Nate questioned as he sat down on the desk across from Tim, which happened to be Kensi's.

"It's a respect thing," Tim said honestly. He felt like if he didn't listen, he was disrespecting Gibbs.

"Hmm. Does he respect you?" Nate asked as only a shrink could.

"No," Tim said sadly. He'd learned a long time ago that Gibbs would never respect him. He'd tried to gain the man's respect, but it just seemed to be a losing battle.

"Then you don't really owe him your respect, do you?" Nate asked.

"He was my boss. Doesn't that entitle him to my respect?" Tim asked. He didn't know why he asked and he certainly didn't know why he told the doctor that it was Gibbs that called him. Nate just seemed like the kind of person someone could talk to. It was probably the whole shrink thing.

"No one is entitled to respect, especially if they don't give it in return. Respect is something you earn. And if someone doesn't respect you, you're not obligated to respect them," Nate said.

Tim looked back at his phone. In that moment, he realized that Nate was right. He didn't owe Gibbs anything. What had Gibbs ever done for him besides sit idly by as the rest of the team verbally and sometimes even physically beat him down.

"Thank you, Nate," Tim said before deleting Gibbs' message and throwing his phone in the waste basket by his desk. He would get a new phone later that night. One that Gibbs and no one else from his old team had the number to. He'd moved to LA to start a new life and that was exactly what he intended to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs was seething. He was getting more and more angry by the second. It had been hours since they'd started and McGee was still nowhere to be found. He tried calling, but McGee wasn't picking up. Another thing that angered him. McGee knew that he wasn't to be unreachable, yet that was exactly what he was at the moment.

"You try your email, Boss. That's what he used the last time he... Shutting up, Boss," Tony quickly said when he saw the steely glare Gibbs was giving him. He would hate to be McGee when Gibbs finally got his hands on him.

Gibbs actually had tried that. He thought about it after the first hour that McGee was unreachable. There was nothing. "Alright, that's it. DiNozzo, go to McGee's. Drag his ass back here!"

"Yes, Boss," Tony said as scrambled out of his chair to what Gibbs said.

"Sit down, DiNozzo," Vance said from the stairs. He decided it was finally time to tell them. He'd decided to wait a little while because he wanted to see if they'd be at all concerned by his absence. Sadly he learned that they weren't. All they'd done is joke about his impending doom and in Gibbs case blow up his phone.

Tony froze and looked between Gibbs and the director, unsure of what he should do next.

"My office, Gibbs," Vance ordered before turning around and walking away without even checking to make sure Gibbs followed.

Gibbs stared at where Vance was once standing for a minute before angrily getting up and storming up to Vance's office. He walked right in and slammed the door behind him. "You know what the hell's going on with McGee, Leon?"

"McGee won't be coming back, Gibbs. I reassigned him," Vance said. He then waited for the inevitable explosion. He didn't have long to wait.

"You what!" Gibbs practically screamed. "So what was it this time, Leon? You gonna disassemble my team every time I piss you off?"

"If that were the case, I would be doing it about a dozen times a day. I don't play those types of games, Gibbs. You wanna know why I transferred McGee? Because he asked me to," Vance said.

Gibbs couldn't deny that he was taken by surprise by Vance's last statement. McGee asked for this? Why would he do that? There was absolutely no good reason that Gibbs could see for that.

"You're surprised," Vance observed.

"Ya think?" Gibbs asked sardonically.

"I wasn't surprised. In fact, the only thing that surprised me was that he didn't do it years ago," Vance told him.

"You wanna explain that comment, Leon?" Gibbs asked irritably.

"The fact that I have to explain it to you says a good portion of it right there. You shouldn't need me to tell you why he left," Vance said.

"Would you just get to the point, Leon?" Gibbs asked. He was already really pissed. This song and dance was just making it that much worse. "You know what? Never mind, I'll go ask him myself."

"Where you going?" Vance asked as he saw Gibbs walking towards the door.

"Where do you think I'm going? To Cybercrimes to talk to McGee," Gibbs said.

"What makes you think he's in Cybercrimes? Because all he's good for is using a computer?" Vance asked.

"What?" Gibbs asked, not quite understanding What Vance was trying to say to him.

"If McGee wanted to be a computer tech, he could do that anywhere and make a whole lot more money than he does on a government salary. He wanted to be a field agent," Vance said.

"He is one," Gibbs said as he walked back over.

"In name only. At least he was when he was here. Tell me, Gibbs, how many times have you sent McGee out onto the field compared to DiNozzo and David?" Vance asked.

"This all about how often I put him out in the field?"

"It's part of it," Vance said.

"I put my team where they flourish the most. McGee is better here behind the scenes than anywhere else," Gibbs said.

"Then it was your job to make him better in other areas. He chose not to and that wasn't acceptable to him," Vance said.

"Then he should've come to me!" Gibbs yelled. He was getting really pissed at McGee for choosing this route. He should've opened his mouth instead of bailing when things got too tough. "What was the other part?"

"Excuse me?" Vance asked.

"You said this was only part of the reason he left. What was the other part?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

Vance sighed. "Again, I shouldn't have to tell you this. You should already know. How long is a man supposed to put up with countless insults and practical jokes at his expense before he finally decides enough is enough?"

Gibbs scoffed. "You mean this is all about a little teasing?"

"It is about the constant disrespect your team shows Agent McGee. DiNozzo is always making fun of his name. I've heard some of the ones he uses and some of them are really deplorable. And that's the kindest thing he does to the kid. There's also the pranks he plays, like super gluing him to his computer, not to mention the constant undermining of his career," Vance explained

"What the hell are you talking about? When has Tony ever undermined McGee's career?" Gibbs asked.

"How about when he tricked him into not volunteering for Iraq?" Vance asked. He'd found out about that not long after the mission was completed. Needless to say, he hadn't been happy to hear it. He'd chastised McGee for not volunteering. He'd unknowingly helped DiNozzo get one over on McGee.

"McGee knows how DiNozzo is. He should've grown a pair and done something about it if he didn't like it!" Gibbs said angrily.

"He did, Gibbs," Vance said pointedly. McGee had done something about it by walking away. In some cases that was the only the thing a person could do. "And you know what the sad part is? He would've stayed if you had just once stood up for him the way you do the rest of your team. Then again, if you ever had, DiNozzo probably wouldn't have done half the things he has if. He does the things he does because he knows he can get away with them. You won't ever rein him or the other members or your team in."

"So now you have a problem everyone else on my team too?" Gibbs asked.

"No, I have a problem with you. Because they are the way they are because you let them be. You let DiNozzo trash McGee at every turn. You let David laugh right along with him. You let Abby take advantage of him at every possible turn. Well, guess what, Gibbs, you can only push the gentlest person so far before he decides to stop your punching bag. Now I've said all I'm going to on the subject. You can go now," Vance said dismissively.

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked. He was going to have a little chat with his ag... His _former_ agent.

"Need to know. I'm not going to tell you where he is so you can go there and give him hell. He has done nothing wrong. You wanna blame someone? Look within yourself. Leave McGee alone," Vance said.

Gibbs glared at Vance for minute before storming out of his office.

Tony watched at his boss angrily walked through the bullpen. "Boss, are we still going to get McDeadman?"

Gibbs stiffened for a minute at the nickname, but immediately shoved it aside. It was not his fault that McGee couldn't handle the pressure. "McGee's gone," he said before continuing towards the elevator.

Tony and Ziva got up to follow him. "What do you mean gone, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"He got himself transferred," Gibbs answered angrily.

"He got off the team on purpose? Why would he do that?" Tony asked in shock.

"Because he couldn't hack it! I'm going for Coffee. Go over the new applicants for a new agent and I don't want to hear McGee's name mentioned again," Gibbs said before going into the elevator and leaving the remaining members of his team stunned beyond words.


	5. Chapter 5

Tim was in the office bright and early the next day, before the rest of his team. He liked getting in early. He arrived early most days in DC too. The only one to get there before him then was Gibbs. Here Hetty was in before him, but no one else.

Tim looked up from his desk just in time to see Sam stroll in. "Good morning."

Sam grunted in response before sitting at his desk and basically ignoring him.

Tim hesitantly stood up and approached Sam. "Look, I know how you feel, okay? I've lost a team member."

Sam continued to try to ignore him, but he was getting on edge. He didn't want to hear some guy he barely knew talk about how he understood what it had been like for him to watch Dom die. He hadn't a clue!

"It was my first year as a full time field agent. Her name was Kate. She was killed by a sniper who had it in for my boss. Now I didn't see her die, but I did feel responsible for her death. I was the sniper's first target. When he couldn't get me, he switched to Kate," Tim explained. He felt a pang in his heart just talking about it. He still missed Kate a lot. She was actually the one member of team, aside from Ducky, that treated him with respect. Sure, there were a couple of times where she'd give him a little grief, but that was just a breaking in the new guy kind of thing. For the most part, she stuck up for him.

Sam couldn't deny that the kid's story did move him a little. It seemed he did understand to a certain extent. But that didn't mean he was ready to except Tim being at Dom's desk.

"I know you resent me being here. It's probably not even just because of your friend. I know I don't live up to your standards for an NCIS agent," Tim said as his insecurities reared their ugly heads.

Sam finally looked up at him, but when he did he was frowning. "My standards?"

"Yeah. I'm not all that experienced in what I should be and my background isn't that of a typical NCIS agent, unless you count the ones from Cybercrimes. All I want is a chance to succeed," Tim said. That's all he'd ever wanted. If Gibbs had just given him that chance, he knew he could've done well. He just hoped Callen would give him the chance Gibbs wouldn't.

"I don't have a problem with your background. Why would I? Being smart is an advantage, not a hindrance," Sam said.

"Morning," Callen said, interrupting them as he came in.

"Morning, G," Sam said.

"Morning," Tim said as he went back to his desk.

"Everything cool here," Callen asked.

Tim nodded.

"Cool as a cucumber," Sam said.

Soon Kensi came through. "Good morning, everyone."

"Hey, Kens," Callen greeted. Sam and Tim gave similar greetings.

It wasn't long before Eric showed up at the top of the stairs and let out his famous whistle.

"Oh, come on, I just got here," Kensi whined.

"Crime waits for no man," Eric joked.

"Do I look like a man, Eric," Kensi asked.

"What's going on?" Tim asked confused. He wasn't sure what was going on.

"That means he wants us in Operations Center. Come on," Callen said.

Tim immediately got up to follow them up the stairs. "Why didn't he just say that? Why whistle?"

"I personally think it's to annoy us," Kensi said.

"I second that theory," Sam said as he followed Callen into the Operations center.

"What's up, Eric?" Callen asked once they were all inside.

Eric pressed a button and a man dressed in a Navy uniform with a bullet in his head appeared on one of the big screens. "Meet Commander Thomas Jackson. He was found shot in the head right outside Fort Marks' Naval base here in LA. This note was in his hand," he said before putting the note on the screen.

Callen took a step forward to get a closer look. "'One down, three to go'. Whoever did this isn't done."

"You think the other three are Navy too?" Kensi asked.

"That's what we need to find out. Kensi, you and Tim are going to head over to that Naval base and see what you can find out," Callen told her.

"Got it," Kensi said before leading the way out. Tim quickly followed behind.

"Eric, does Jackson have a residence nearby?" Callen asked once the other two were gone.

"Yup," Eric said before quickly giving him the address.

"Okay, let's go, Sam," Callen said before leading the way out of the Ops Center.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Something aint right, G," Sam said as he and Callen were driving to their victim's apartment.

"You mean besides the fact that someone just started a killing spree," Callen joked.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I was talking about the new guy."

Callen sighed. "He's got a name and I thought we talked about this."

"I didn't ask him anything, G. He just said something that kinda wasn't right," Sam said.

"Like what?" Callen asked.

"He doesn't think that Dom is the only reason I don't want him here. He said he didn't meet my standards because of his background. Like having a background in computers and all that is a bad thing," Sam explained.

Callen stiffened. The more he found out about Tim's past with NCIS, the less he liked and he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was only going to get worse. It was ironic really. He'd listened to Gibbs time and time again tell about his gut and how it never failed him. Well, Callen's gut was telling him that Gibbs had failed Tim dramatically.

"I told him that he was off base. That his achievements were an asset, but seriously, G, why would anyone think otherwise? What's your take on it? You know his old boss, right?" Sam asked.

"I thought I did," Callen said. He was not so sure anymore. Tim sent him questioning everything he knew about his old friend. No one on Gibbs' team ever lacked experience before. He made sure that they all knew everything they should, yet somehow Tim didn't and it wasn't because he didn't want to. And now he was hearing that the guy was so insecure that he actually thought being smart wasn't important? People didn't just think that. That was something that could only be taught.

"You see it too, don't you? Something aint right here," Sam said again.

"I sensed that something was off before he even got here. No one transfers like that without a reason. Then when he showed up lacking so much experience, I was alerted again. Like you said, I know Gibbs. I've never known him to be so lax in his team's experience. He always makes sure his team is up to the challenge," Callen said.

"You think it was just Tim," Sam said. It was clear that that was what his partner was thinking.

"I can't be sure of anything, but the more I learn, the more respect I lose for Gibbs."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim and Kensi were in Tim's car on their way to the naval base. Tim was driving because Kensi's car was in the shop.

"This car is amazing, Tim. You can afford this on a government salary?" Kensi asked surprised. It was a Porsche, which was not cheap.

Tim chuckled. "Well, not exactly. I, uh... I used to write. I got paid a good deal of money. That's how I got this."

"You're an author?" Kensi asked.

"I was," Tim corrected. He stopped writing after that nut job had used his book to kill people. He just couldn't bring himself to anymore.

"What did you write?" Kensi asked curiously.

""Um, a series of books. It was called Deep Six," Tim told her.

Kensi's mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh my God. You wrote those?"

"Y...you read them?" Tim asked surprised.

"Yeah, they were great. I own every one of them. I can't believe you wrote them. Why'd you stop, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tim sighed. "A few years ago, there was this guy that got his hands on my rough drafts. He was a real fanatic. He used them to kill off people I based my characters off of. It put my entire team in danger. I just couldn't go on after that."

"Well, you know it wasn't your fault, right? You can't be held responsible for every whack job in the world," Kensi said.

"On some level I know that. Still, it's hard to know that people died because of what was in my book. To know that someone on my team nearly died because of it," Tim said.

"The characters were based of your team?"

"The main characters were," Tim said as he pulled into the base. "Well, here we are."

"Yup, let's get to work," Kensi said as she got out of the car.

Tim got out as well and they began making their way further onto the base.

"So the characters in your book. Are they really such asses in real life?" Kensi asked as they walked.


	6. Chapter 6

Tim and Kensi sat in an office with a Commander James Rally. "Commander Jackson was a good man. I can't imagine why anyone would wanna kill him." Commander Rally said.

"You were the one who found him, Correct?" Kensi asked.

The commander nodded sadly. "Yeah. His legs were sticking out of the bushes. It's not a sight I'll ever forget."

"How could this have happened on base? Naval bases are heavily secured," Kensi said.

"The officer on duty makes rounds around the entire base. If the killer knew the routine, he could easily just maneuver around him," Tim spoke from his experience as a Navy brat. "He was probably killed somewhere else on base."

"You think one of my men is a killer?" Commander Rally asked skeptically.

"You got a better explanation?" Kensi asked.

"Look, Commander, I understand that you need to trust your men, but there's a bigger picture here. There are at least three more men on this guy's hit list and there is the very distinct possibility that they are all Navy. You really gonna risk your lives by ignoring the possibility that you have a killer here?" Tim asked.

Commander Rally sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"A list of everyone Commander Jackson was close to and had a problem with and permission to talk to them for starters," Kensi said.

"We also need to look around the base and find out where exactly Jackson was killed," Tim added.

"Alright, but this does not mean that I think one of my men killed Commander Jackson."

"Understood, Commander," Kensi said.

"Jackson's office was is three doors down on the left if you wanna start there. Here are the keys," Commander Rally said.

"Thank you," Kensi said before taking the keys and leading the way out. "That was a good speech you gave. So how'd you know about the security on the base?"

"I grew up on countless bases just like this one. My father has been in the Navy his whole life," Tim told her.

"Ah, a military brat. It looks like we have something in common. My father was a marine," Kensi said as they walked down to their victim's office. Kensi unlocked the door and they stepped inside.

"Well, it doesn't look like a crime scene," Kensi said as she took in her surroundings. It looked just like a regular office. Nothing was disturbed or even messy. it almost looked too neat.

Tim went over to the desk and started looking around. He didn't find much. There was a bunch of paperwork that needed to be filled out, a computer, and a couple of photos. Tim picked up a photo of four men dressed in naval uniforms. "Kensi."

Kensi looked over to see her new partner holding up a photo. "Well, it looks like we may have found our three potential victims."

There was soon a knock on the door followed by a man dressed in a petty officer's uniform walking in. "My apologies for interrupting, but Commander Rally asked me to give you this list."

"Petty Officer, do you know these other men with Commander Jackson?" Tim asked as he showed the man the photo.

"Yes, sir, those are Commanders James Taylor and Richard Pruett and Captain Nathan Myers," The petty officer said.

"Are they on base right now?" Kensi asked.

"No, ma'am. They all went on leave three days ago," he answered.

"Okay, thank you," Kensi said. She waited for him to leave before turning to Tim. "Well, isn't that a coincidence?"

"They now someone's gunning for them," Tim said.

Kensi took out her phone and dialed one of her speed dial numbers before putting the phone to her hear. "Eric, Kensi. I need you to find out everything you can on James Taylor, Richard Pruett, and Nathan Myers. All Navy. Okay thanks," she said before hanging up. "Okay, so we should split up. One of us takes this list and starts talking to the people on it while the other looks for the crime scene."

"Okay, I can handle searching for the crime scene," Tim said.

"Alright, let me know if you find anything," Kensi said before walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later, they were all back in the Operations Center when Hetty came in. "What do we know?"

"A whole lot of nothing," Sam said.

"I'm still looking for these three sailors that could be our next victims, but so far nothing. It's like they jumped off the grid," Eric said.

"And the crime scene?" Hetty asked.

"I searched that base from top to bottom. There is no evidence of a murder on that base. It had to have happened somewhere else," Tim said.

"But how is that possible? I mean getting past the officer on duty is one thing, but how do you get a dead body onto a military base is a whole different ballgame," Kensi said.

Tim didn't have an answer for her. He didn't know how they'd pulled it off either. Unless... "Someone on the inside could've helped. We could be looking at two killers."

Hetty sighed. "Well, we won't be figuring any of this out tonight. "Go home. We'll pick this up in the morning.

They all nodded and filed out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A few minutes later, the team was getting ready to leave. Tim grabbed his bag and started to live. "Goodnight, everyone."

Everyone bid him goodnight and he left.

Sam started to leave too, but Kensi stopped him. "Hang on, Sam. Take this," she said before handing him a copy of the first in the series of 'Deep Six'.

Sam looked at it in frowned. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"What do you normally do with a book, Sam? Read it. When you come in tomorrow, we'll discuss the moral of the story," Kensi said. She wanted both Sam and Callen to read Tim's books because it would give them a good idea of why he was with them. After finding out that he'd written the books, it hadn't been hard to figure it out. She'd been thinking about it all ever since Tim told her that his characters were based off him and his old team.

"What? I didn't sign up for no book club," Sam said.

Callen snickered. "Come on, Sam, reading a little book won't kill you."

Kensi smirked. "I'm glad you feel that way, Callen, because I have one for you too," she said before tossing one to him. "It's the second in the story, but actual plot isn't that important. Pay attention to the interactions of the main characters."

"I assume there's a point to this," Callen said. Kensi wouldn't just have them read some book just for the hell of it.

"Oh, there's a point. Neither of you will particularly like the point, especially you, Callen, but there is a point," Kensi said.

"Okay," Callen said before grabbing his things and heading out.

Sam gave Kensi a look, but then did the same.


	7. Chapter 7

After getting home, Sam did his workout routine and then grabbed some leftover takeout. As he ate, he glanced at the book Kensi had given him, which was set right next to him. He sighed and kicked it up. "This better be good, Kensi."

Sam opened the book and began reading. It wasn't hard for him to figure out who the writer was or who the characters were based on. McGregor, Tibbs, it was all pretty obvious. This was about Tim and his team. Obviously Kensi was trying to tell them something about their newest teammate.

Sam stopped about five pages in. It was the first scene where McGregor was surrounded by his team. The whole thing had him foaming at the mouth. "Oh, I'm gonna mess somebody up."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Callen was lounging in one of his chairs at home while reading Tim's book. He'd come to the conclusion that it was Tim's by all the similar names, especially the agent in charge L.J. Tibbs. The characters so far had been spot on and the writing was superb. Tim was a really good writer.

Callen suddenly sat up straight and his mouth began to drop open with horror as he read the nasty insults that agent 'Tommy' hurled at 'McGregor' while 'Tibbs' did absolutely nothing.

Callen furiously turned the pages trying to find other instances. He really hoped this was like a onetime thing and he could chalk it up to just being an imagination thing on Tim's part, but it wasn't long before he found more scenes just like the last one and sometimes even worse. It made his stomach turn just reading it. The cruel comments, the practical jokes, the blatant disrespect. It all made him sick. You didn't treat people like this and you certainly didn't act this juvenile in a federal agency. This was the kind of thing you saw happen in high school, and even then it would be considered unacceptable. If even half of what was in this book actually happened to Tim, Callen understood why he left.

"What the hell did you do, Gibbs?" Callen asked out loud. Gibbs was the worst of them all in his opinion. He allowed all this to happen. And Callen did believe these things happened to Tim. They might not have happened exactly how they did in the book, but they did happen. That's why Kensi wanted him to read it. She wanted him to see the damage that Gibbs and his team had done to Tim.

Callen finally shut the book. He couldn't read this anymore. He already wanted to go to DC and pumble each and every last one of them. How could anyone believe it was okay to treat people like this? How could Gibbs allow this all to happen? Callen knew that if it were his people that acted this way, he would shut them down before they could even blink and make sure they knew if it ever happened again they'd be gone. Almost everyone he knew would too. He used to think Gibbs was included in that. Apparently he was wrong. God help him if Callen ever got within striking distance again.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

When Sam got in the next morning, he found Kensi and Nate in their usual positions. He immediately went over to Kensi and handed her his copy of 'Deep Six'. "Take this away from me before I go to DC and bash someone in the head with it."

"So you read it then," Kensi deduced.

"I read enough of it, and I figured out the moral of the story all on my own. The moral of the story is that I need to go and beat someone over the head, preferably L.J 'Tibbs', until he sees sense!" Sam said hotly. Needless to say he was still pretty pissed about what he read.

"Don't bother, his head is too hard for that," Callen said as he entered the room. Despite the comment, there were no traces of humor in his voice.

"G, did you read this crap?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I read it. And believe me, I feel your urge to wanna go beat some sense into people," Callen said as he sat down next to Kensi.

"What is it? What's this book everybody's so upset about?" Nate asked.

Kensi held it out for him. She figured she might as well tell him. He was going to find out eventually. Besides, Tim might need Nate's help. It was obvious that this all affected him big time. He might need Nate's area of expertise to get through it all. "Tim wrote this. It's based off his life with his old team. Let's just say that they leave a lot to be desired."

"How'd you know he wrote it, Kens? I mean, I figured it out because I was pretty sure that whatever point you were trying to make was about him and then the names were way too familiar to miss," Callen said.

"Same here," Sam said.

"I read those books years ago. I had no idea they were Tim's until yesterday. He told me about them when we were driving to the base," Kensi explained.

"Which suggests that on some level he wanted you to know. He wants it out in the open," Nate said as he skimmed over the page of the book. "He's a really good writer. Even if some of the content is a little disturbing."

"If, Nate?" Sam asked.

"Okay it _is_ a little disturbing. This Agent Tommy character really shouldn't have been allowed to get away with this stuff," Nate said. He really was disturbed by this. He knew by his conversation with Tim a couple of days ago that there were issues with this former team, but he never would've expected this. No one should be allowed to verbally abuse and take advantage of a teammate the way these people did.

"If you read further you'll realize it's not just him," Kensi said.

"I don't get why he would write it. If it was me, I wouldn't want this stuff out in the open," Sam said.

"Well, a lot of people use writing as an outlet. A way to relieve all the stress and pressure of dealing with it in real life. He probably doesn't even realize he did it," Nate said.

"Where is Tim anyway?" Callen asked.

"In the Operations Center, Mr. Callen, where all of you should be," Hetty said as she entered the room. "That means now!" she added when no one moved.

They all scrambled to get up and get up the stairs. Everyone but Callen that is. He stayed behind. "I'm assuming you heard every word we said."

"Now why would you assume that, Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked.

Callen smirked a little. "Because you see and hear everything. I'm not sure how to handle this. I've never been confronted with this kind of situation."

"You should consider that a good thing. It means those _people_ are the exception and not the rule," Hetty said, spitting out the word 'people' with disgust.

"I thought Gibbs was a good guy. I thought he was the type that would protect his people no matter what. I was wrong. Apparently he's only there for certain members of his team. I don't know what to do about that," Callen said.

"You will do what he didn't. You will assure Mr. McGee that what he went through before he got here won't happen again. That's the best you can do in this situation," Hetty said.

"I wanna go to DC and knock some heads," Callen said angrily.

"Yes, I know, but as you told Mr. Hanna, it wouldn't do any good. It certainly wouldn't help Mr. McGee," Hetty said.

"Right," Callen said. In fact, it might even make things worse for Tim. As far as he knew, Gibbs and his team didn't know where Tim was now working. If they did know, they might come harass him. Callen wouldn't allow that.

"Now I suggest we got to the Operations Center and see if Mr. Beal has discovered anything," Hetty said.

Callen immediately got up and headed up the stairs.


	8. Chapter 8

By lunchtime, the team still didn't have any solid leads on their case. They had no idea where the three missing sailors were and they still hadn't found the crime scene.

"Alright, I'm going for lunch. Tim, join me?" Callen asked. It was time for him to have a conversation with the kid. He'd thought about holding it until the case was over, but who knew when that was going to be?

"Uh, sure," Tim said before getting up and going to follow Callen. They went outside and got into Callen's car. "Is everything alright?

"No, but rest assured that it's nothing you did," Callen said as started the car and drove away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Callen stopped his car in an abandoned parking lot.

"We're not really going to lunch, are we?" Tim asked. He could tell that something was wrong. And despite Callen's assurances that he wasn't in trouble, he still felt very nervous.

Callen reached into the backseat and grabbed Tim's book before handing it to him. "Don't be too angry at Kensi. She gave that to me because she's trying to help you."

"I don't understand. What does my book have to do anything?" Tim asked in confusion.

"I guess Nate was right. You really don't realize," Callen said. Nate had said that Tim probably didn't even realize he was telling the world how he was treated by his team. He was right.

"Realize what?" Tim asked.

"Kensi says that the book is based off your old team. You do realize they're not exactly portrayed in a good light. I read that book until I couldn't stomach it anymore. I found myself wanted to reach through and strangle almost all of the main characters," Callen said.

Tim began to stiffen as he realized where this conversation was going. "It's just a book."

"But it's not, is it? It was real for you. This is why you left. I knew something was up before I even met you, but I never imagined something like this. I never imagined that people could treat another human being like this, let alone a teammate," Callen said.

"You don't have to say any of this, Callen. I know Gibbs is your friend," Tim said.

"The hell with Gibbs! Yeah, he was my friend, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn a blind eye to the fact that he screwed over a member of his team," Callen said.

Tim couldn't help but focus on the fact that Callen said Gibbs _was_ his friend. "Callen, please don't ruin your friendship with Gibbs over me."

"It's not about you, not really. It's about him. I can't be friends with a person who is capable of being that cruel to one of his own men. Look, Gibbs isn't my concern. You are," Callen said.

"I'm fine. I can handle things. Just because I left Gibbs doesn't mean I can't handle the job," Tim said. That was what he was afraid of the most. That Callen would he couldn't handle it when things got tough.

"You think that I think that because you left that means you're weak? Nothing could be further from the truth. It took a lot of courage to do what you did. To decide that enough is enough and to walk way before it destroyed you. That's real strength, Tim," Callen said.

"I...I never thought of it like that. Gibbs would say it made me weak. Hell, he probably said it the minute he found out that I left," Tim said.

"Like I said, the hell with Gibbs. His opinion means squat to me and it should mean the same to you. He didn't deserve you. He didn't respect you and he didn't appreciate you. He's not an example of what a team leader is supposed to be," Callen said. Never in a million years did he think he'd ever be saying these things about Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but the minute he read that book, every ounce of respect he still had for the man went out the window. Honestly right now, he had nothing left but contempt for the man.

"I tried, Callen. I tried really hard to hang in there and stick with them, but it was getting to the point where work became hell. I didn't want to dread a job that I loved," Tim said.

"Was it really as bad as in the books?" Callen asked. Not that it really mattered if it was as bad. If it was even one tenth of what was in the books, it was awful.

Tim turned and looked out the car window. He just couldn't bring himself to face Callen anymore. "It was worse. Do the others know about all this?"

"They know about what's in the books. Sam is ready to go bash some heads in," Callen said.

Tim turned back to Callen with a shocked expression on his face. They were really that outraged at what happened to him with Team Gibbs? They barely knew him. Why was it that people he knew less than a week were willing to defend him when the ones he knew for several years couldn't have cared less?

"Don't look so surprised. Most grown adults aren't impressed with this kind of thing. Sam is really big on respect. He may be hard on you, but he will always treat you with respect no matter what," Callen said.

"Wow. What a concept," Tim said bitterly.

"What did they do, Tim? You can tell me. Whatever you say will stay between us," Callen promised.

"What didn't they do? Tony has made up every nickname under the sun to go with my name. Let's see, there's McGeek, McVirgin, McThirdwheel. I'd go on, but I think you get the picture. There's also the countless times he put superglue on my keyboard so that when I touched it, I'd get stuck. He told all the women there that I was gay, he laughed his ass off as I was tazered, he put a CD track of dogs barking on my computer. Oh, that one was about an hour after I was mauled by a dog at a crime scene," Tim said.

Callen was disgusted by what he was being told. How did this guy still have a job? Why was he allowed to pull this kind of crap on a teammate and keep his badge? He was beyond despicable and should've been fired for each of those things by themselves.

"Then there's Ziva. She's not as bad as Tony, but she has her moments too. She laughs at almost every one of Tony's jokes. She also drove the truck super fast to make me uncomfortable because she was mad at me for basing one of the characters in my book on her. Then we come to Abby. She takes advantage of me every chance she gets. She knows how I feel about her and she uses it against me at every turn. And when she's not trying to get me to do something for her, she's completely turning against me. Remember the dog incident I was telling you about?" Tim asked.

Callen nodded.

"Well, she was a real pleasure to be around that day too," Tim said sarcastically. "You see, in order to keep myself from being killed, I had to shoot the dog."

"Yeah, of course," Callen said. That was something they'd all learned in basic training. You do what you have to do to stay alive. If you have to shoot, you shoot.

"Well, Abby wasn't as understanding as you are. She was pissed at me for shooting it. She called me bad, like you would a dog. She treated me like I was the criminal. And then when it was all over, she pressured me into adopting the dog," Tim explained.

Callen was literally shaking with anger. He honestly couldn't figure out who was worse. Tony for acting like a high school bully, Abby for taking advantage of Tim and then treating him like garbage, or Gibbs for doing nothing to stop any of it. Actually now that he thought about it he could figure out who was worse. His old friend Gibbs. After all none of this could've happened if he didn't let. "Damn. You have more tolerance than anyone I know. If it were me, not only would I have been gone a long time ago, but I would've thrown some punches before I left. I want you to know that that'll never happen here. If it were ever to happen, the person responsible would find themselves without a job. I wouldn't put up with it and neither would would Hetty. Not that anyone here would ever do anything like that."

"Thank you," Tim said. He pretty much knew already that things would be different here than they were with Gibbs, but it was a relief to hear Callen say it.

Soon Callen's phone began to ring. He immediately answered it. "Callen. Hey, Eric. Okay, we'll be right there," he said before hanging up. "Eric finally found something. You ready?"

Tim nodded.

Callen immediately started the car and began driving once more.


	9. Chapter 9

"What do you got for us, Eric?" Callen asked as he and Tim entered the Ops. Center.

"I was able to find Nathan Myers. Well, more like LAPD was," Eric said before putting a photo of the dead Navy Captain on the touch screen.

"Damn it," Callen cursed. He was really hoping to be able to find the person responsible for this before someone else was killed. "Where was he found?"

"His apartment in West LA. I was also able to get some information on all four men. They all served in the same unit since they entered the navy and they all have black marks in their files," Eric said.

"We need to find out what's in them. Tim and Kensi, go back to Fort Marks and get something out of somebody. Sam and I will check out Myers place," Callen said before leading the way out of the Ops. Center.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"So you mad at me?" Kensi asked Tim as they walked through St. Marks Naval base. She wouldn't blame him if he were. As good as her intentions were, she did reveal personal information to all their colleagues. Still, she didn't regret it. She did what she did to help her partner.

"No, I'm grateful and kind of surprised. I'm used to the people I work with revealing my secrets, but never to be helpful," Tim said. Tony would've revealed his secrets just to humiliate him. It never would've occurred to him to be helpful.

"I don't know much about the people you work with, but from what I do know, I can tell that they left a lot to be desired. It doesn't sound like it was much of a team," Kensi said.

"Actually they were a good team, Kensi. I just wasn't a part of it," Tim said sadly. That was what got to him the most. The others had been a great team with each other, but they refused to be with him. It was like he was an outsider he'd been saddled with.

"Why did you stay so long if you didn't feel like part of the team?" Kensi wondered.

"Well, for one, I was hoping it would change. I thought that if I proved myself, they would start to see me as one of them. But after seven years, I realized that that was just wishful thinking," Tim said.

"And the other reason?" Kensi questioned. He said 'for one'. That led her to believe there was another reason.

Tim shifted uncomfortably. He didn't want to voice the other reason. It made him feel very insecure and stupid.

"You thought it made you weak, didn't you?" Kensi asked. She could tell by his body language that that was what he thought.

Tim sighed. "All my life I was taught that if you quit at something it meant you were too weak to handle it. First by my father, then by Gibbs. I've never quit anything because of that mantra. Until now that is. It was the hardest thing I've ever done and the most frightening. I didn't know what to expect by doing so. For all I knew, they were right about me and I didn't belong at NCIS in any capacity except as a computer tech."

"Is that what they told you?" Kensi asked.

"They didn't have to. The way they treated me screamed it. I was the most inexperienced agent on the team and I had been a full member for six years. Gibbs preferred to see me behind a desk doing the kinds of things Eric does instead of the field. Sure, I went to crime scenes when the rest of the team did and I even got out to talk to witnesses a few times, but most of the time I was behind my desk or helping our forensic scientist," Tim explained. He wasn't sure why he was telling her all this. He'd been trying to keep all of it from his teammates since he got there. Now in the course of one day, he was spilling his guts to everyone.

"He'll regret that one day," Kensi said.

Tim laughed humorlessly. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Trust me, he will. The day is going to come soon when you are just as sharp on the field as the rest of us. Callen and Sam will see to that. Gibbs will see that one day and he'll realize what he lost," Kensi said.

"It's a nice thought, Kensi, but that'll never happen. You wanna know what Gibbs things of me right now? He thinks of me as a quitter. The guy who couldn't handle the pressure and abandoned his responsibilities," Tim said. After being around Gibbs for seven years, he knew how the man thought. Gibbs would never see him as anything other than a failure.

"You know that's not true though, right?" Kensi asked.

"Most of me does, especially after the last few days. When I first transferred, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wanted to hope things would be different, but I worried that they wouldn't. I worried that maybe Gibbs and the others were right about me. Maybe it was me. Maybe I was the problem. But the moment joined you guys I saw big differences. You were all much kinder to me. You treated me like a member of your team," Tim said.

"You are a member of our team," Kensi pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but you all accepted me from the moment I got there. Okay, Sam a little less than the rest of you, but even he treated me with respect. That's all I ever wanted and for a while I'd given up hoping I'd ever get it," Tim said.

"That makes he want to go hurt somebody," Kensi said. That fact that Tim thought that made he want to go beat his old team until their brains returned.

Tim chuckled. "I appreciate the sentiment. It's how I know that I made the right choice by coming here."

"Good. And if you ever wanna talk about what happened in further detail, I'll be here to listen. But if you don't, that's cool too," Kensi said. She didn't want to pressure him into talking to him, but she wanted him to know that she was there if he needed her.

Tim smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Sam asked as they walked into Captain Myers' apartment.

"Tell you what?" Callen asked.

Sam gave him a look. "You know what, G. About what happened with Tim."

"Oh, that. No, I'm not gonna tell you. We talked and I think I got through. That's all I'm gonna say about it," Callen said. He promised Tim that what he told him would be kept between them. He wasn't going to be another person the kid couldn't trust.

"Okay, just tell me this. We ever make it to DC, are we kicking ass?" Sam asked.

"If we ever make it to DC, people's heads are coming off," Callen said as they made it passed the yellow evidence tape to where the body was found. They were in the living room, which was covered in blood. There was a blood trail that led towards the kitchen and the floor, couch and table was covered in it too.

Callen observed it all carefully. There was an awful lot of blood there for one person. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"As long as you're thinking that this is way too much blood for one person and that Jackson was probably killed here too," Sam said.

Callen nodded and headed towards the kitchen. It was even worse in there. There was a pool of blood by the table and a lot of broken glass on the floor, probably from a struggle.

"Looks like he put up a fight," Sam said.

"One of them did anyway. You know, both these guys were Navy. They would've been able to take on guy. We're looking at more than one killer," Callen said.

Sam nodded his agreement. "What I don't get is why only move one body? Why leave Myers here while moving Jackson to the base. And how the hell did they get him on that base without being detected. And why the notes?

Callen immediately picked up his phone and dialed Kensi. "Kensi, it looks like Jackson was definitely dead when he got to that base. I need you to find out how that could've happened. Alright thanks," he said before hanging up.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kensi and Tim were being led into the base's surveillance room by Petty Officer Jacobs. "This place is watched twenty-four/seven. If anything out of the ordinary happened, we'll have it here."

Jacobs started going through the surveillance DVD's. He stopped after a second. "Well, that's strange."

"What is it?" Tim asked.

"The footage for that night is missing," Jacobs said before grabbing a clipboard with a list of names on it. "It looks like the footage was checked out by Commander Rally."

Kensi and Tim exchanged looks. Commander Rally had been the one they'd spoken to when they first started investigating. It looked like he knew more than he told them "Any idea why he would do that?" Tim asked.

"He probably had the same idea you did," Jacobs said. "I have to say though, I don't see how anyone could get a body onto this base. There's a detail on duty at the entrance every night."

"Who was on that night?" Kensi asked.

"I can tell you in just a second," he said before grabbing another list. He looked up at them with a shocked expression seconds later.

"What is it?" Tim asked.

"It was originally supposed to be Petty Officer Carl Raymond, but he switched with someone last minute.

"Who was it?" Kensi asked already knowing the answer.

"Commander Rally."


	10. Chapter 10

About an hour later, the team was in the boathouse watching Commander Rally on the monitors. Kensi and Tim had brought him in after finding out about his suspicious actions the night Commander Jackson was murdered.

"So Rally not only had the opportunity to at the very least help the killers get the body on base, but he also stole the security footage. I'd say that makes him suspect number one," Callen said.

"So how you wanna play this, G? We going in together or taking turns?" Sam asked.

"Neither. We're sitting this one out. Tim's taking this one," Callen said.

"W...what?" Tim stuttered. He was more than a little bit nervous. He'd handled a couple of interrogations, but they were either with someone else or suspects that people would consider easy. Also, the fact that he was new to this team didn't help matters. He was afraid he was going to make a fool out of himself in front of his new team.

"You need more experience in interrogation. The best way to get that is to just jump right in there. So go on. This one's yours," Callen said.

"But I... I..."

"You'll be fine, Tim," Kensi assured him. "And if you're not, we'll be here to help."

Tim took a deep breath and started towards the interrogation rooms.

"Hang on," Callen said. He then handed Tim an ear piece. "Put that in your ear so that if we have to talk to you you'll hear it."

Tim did so and headed down the hall

"Maybe one of us should go with him," Kensi said once her partner was out of sight. She had complete faith in him and all, but she knew he would've felt much more comfortable with someone there to step in if necessary.

"No," Nate said. "Callen's right. He needs to do this on his own. He needs to know that he can."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim entered the room Rally was stashed in and sat across from him. He did his best not to show his nervousness. He knew if he did, it was all over. He felt sort of ridiculous being so nervous. It was almost like he was a Probie again. And in a lot of ways he was. He was very inexperienced, especially for someone who had been a field agent for over six years.

"Are you going to tell me why you brought me here, Agent McGee?" Commander Rally asked.

"We've determined that Commander Jackson was already dead when he made it onto base," Tim said.

Commander Rally shook his head. "That's impossible. We have top notch security. Someone would've noticed."

"Someone did notice. You," Tim said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were on duty for security the night Jackson's body was brought onto the base," Tim said.

"That's ridiculous. I'm a commander. I don't do security anymore," Rally said. He sounded quite nervous though. It was obvious that he was there

"Yet according to the surveillance log, that's exactly what you did," Tim said.

Rally shook his head. "No."

"You also removed the security footage from that night," Tim said.

"Why would I do that?"

"You tell me, Commander," Tim said.

"This is ridiculous. If I had done that, don't you think I would've been smart enough not to leave my name on some log?" Rally asked.

Tim shrugged. "You wouldn't be the first to make a mistake like this while covering up a crime."

"I didn't kill them!" Rally yelled.

"You didn't kill _them? _I don't recall mentioning a second victim," Tim said.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh, he's good," Sam said as the rest of them watched the interrogation. "Why did no one put him in an interrogation before now?"

"Because he worked for morons," Kensi answered.

Soon Callen's phone started ringing. He saw that it was Eric and answered it. "What do you got, Eric?"

_"Callen, LAPD just finished with forensics. You were right. Commander Jackson's blood was found at the scene. He was killed there along with Myers. There's something else though. Commander Rally's fingerprints were found at the scene," _Eric said.

"Okay, thanks, Eric," Callen said before hanging up. He immediately contacted Tim through the ear piece. "Tim, Rally was there when Myers and Jackson were killed. Get him talking."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"So answer my question. How'd you know we had another victim? Because you were there, weren't you?"

"No," Rally said.

"Really. Because we have evidence that says you were," Tim said.

"I think I want a lawyer now," Rally said.

"Unless you tell me what happened, you're really gonna need that lawyer. Right now we have enough evidence to put you away for the murders of two sailors," Tim said.

"I didn't kill them!" Rally exclaimed again.

"Then who did?" Tim asked.

"I can't be sure."

"But you have an idea," Tim said.

"They were both dead when I got to the scene. James had called me and told me he'd found them dead in Nathan's apartment," Rally said.

"They were both there when you got there? So you moved Jackson's body," Tim realized.

"Yes. James and I did. We thought we could make it look like a serial killer did it. That way no one could trace it back to the real killer," Rally explained.

"And that would be?" Tim pressed. He had a feeling he knew though. Only one of the four musketeers had yet to be mentioned.

"Richard Pruett. He was always the hothead of the group," Rally said.

"Why'd he do it?" Tim asked.

"Something to do with a Black Ops assignment they all had back in the day. James wouldn't tell me what it was and I didn't really wanna know. Two of my friends were dead. That's all I cared about," Rally said.

"Then why protect Pruett for killing them?"

"I wasn't protecting him, I was protecting James. We were both afraid that because he was there, he would be charged with accessory or something," Rally explained.

Tim got up and left the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, the team was heading home. They'd wrapped up their case a couple hours earlier. They'd found Pruett getting ready to flee the country and they'd had to shoot him in the pursuit when he fired at them.

Callen approached Tim once the others had gone. "Not bad for your first case." Of course Callen knew that it wasn't his first case, but it was with them and it was the first case he'd really had a major part of.

"Thanks. Something tells me they're gonna get harder though," Tim said.

"Oh, you can count on that. I would consider this one of our easier cases," Callen said. "So did you learn anything today?"

"You mean about the case?" Tim asked.

"No," Callen said simply.

Tim chuckled a little. "Yeah, I did. I learned that I wasn't wrong to leave Gibbs and that you were telling the truth when you said things would be different here. I know I should be happy about that and I am, but..."

"But it's hard to realize that you were screwed over so royally by the people who were supposed to have your back," Callen finished for him.

"Yeah. I mean, I already kind of knew that the way they were with me was wrong, but that was really driven home today. The way you and the others treated me... I would never have gotten that from Gibbs. That made me realize that it wasn't me. It wasn't something I did or didn't do to make him act like that. And while that is good, it's bad too. Because it means that someone I trusted did as you said, screw me over," Tim explained.

"You want my advice on how to deal with that?" Callen asked.

"Please," Tim said. He would gladly take some advice on this. He didn't want to feel like this. He wanted to move on with his life.

"Let him go. Don't think about him or the rest of them. Forget they even exist," Callen said.

Tim snorted. "You want me to forget Gibbs. Why don't you just ask me to grow wings and fly while you're at it?" Nobody could forget Gibbs. Good or bad, he was just the type of person you remembered for the rest of your life.

"Well, obviously you won't actually forget them, but you can let them go. Let go of the anger and the pain. Not for them, but for you. Make them almost insignificant to you. Because that's what they are now. They're not important in your life. They're just a bad memory that you need to shrug off. Let them go," Callen said before heading out.

Tim just stood there as Callen's words sunk in. Could he really do that? Could he really just let go of the last seven years. He thought about Callen, Sam, and Kensi and how they'd all treated him better than his old team ever had. Yeah, he could do it. He could let them go. He couldn't really forget what they did to him, but he could move past it. And that was what he intended to do. It might take a little bit, but he would get past it all. It was time to do mentally what he'd already done physically. It was time to let them go.


	11. Chapter 11

_One year later_

Callen, Sam, and Kensi were all sitting at their desks. Callen was eating a banana.

"Seriously, G, you and your bananas. Maybe you should branch out and try a new fruit. How about an apple?" Sam asked.

"Hey, back off. I'm eating healthy. Isn't that what you usually lecture me about not doing?" Callen asked.

"Oh my God, I cannot wait until this drug smuggling Op is over. I need my partner back. I need him to distract me from you two buffoons," Kensi said. Tim was on an undercover assignment with a group trying to smuggle drugs into all branches of the US military. They believed there were people on the inside involved and Tim was trying to uncover them all. He'd been under deep for nearly a month.

Soon there was a whistle up above. "Director Vance is on line," Eric said.

They all got up and headed upstairs to the Ops. Center. Callen stiffened when he saw who was on the screen with the director. "Director Vance, Special Agent Gibbs."

"Callen," Gibbs greeted back.

"We've got a situation, Agent Callen. I need you and your team up here. We've got a two dead marines tied to your drug smuggling case," Vance said.

"Director, we have an agent deep undercover in that smuggling ring. There's no way in hell I'm just going to leave him here without back up and go to DC," Callen said. Not to mention the fact that if they were in any close proximity to Gibbs or his team, there would likely be bloodshed. He was already having trouble not trying to reach through the screen to kill Gibbs.

"I don't expect you to, Agent Callen. We believe that the drug ring, including your agent is on its way here as well. That's why we need you here," Vance said.

"What would make you think that?" Callen asked.

"Interrogated a marine involved with them. He confirmed it all. They're making the shipments from here in DC in about a week," Gibbs said.

"Your agent probably just hasn't gotten the chance to contact you safely yet about the change," Vance said.

Callen sighed. He didn't like this one bit. This was a disaster waiting to happen. His entire team, including himself, wanted nothing more than to tear every member of Team Gibbs limb from limb. But there was no choice. If Tim really was headed for DC, they'd have to go. He certainly didn't trust Gibbs to make sure his agent stayed safe. "Could I speak with you in private, Director?"

"Something you don't want me to know, Callen?" Gibbs asked, clearly unhappy about something being kept from him.

"Leave the room, Gibbs. Now," Vance ordered.

Gibbs sent a seething glare to both of them before leaving.

Callen motioned for the others to leave the room. He watched them leave and then turned back to Vance. "I realize we don't have a choice here. Even if you weren't ordering us to come, we would do so simply to stay close to our agent. But if you force us to work with them, I can't guarantee there will be anything left of them when we're finished. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee there won't be"

"I know there is a lot of bad blood between your team and Gibbs'," Vance said.

"That's putting it mildly, sir. Sam and Kensi are most likely downstairs trying to come up with creative ways to kill them all," Callen said. He wasn't exaggerating either. He had no doubt that that was exactly what they were doing.

"Like I said, I understand. If there was any other way, I would use it, but there isn't. I need you all here by morning and I need you to work together to close this case. Think of McGee. He needs you all to work together professionally to get to help him close this and get him out of there in one piece," Vance said.

"Trust me, Director; he's the only thing I'm thinking about right now."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You're looking forward to this, aren't you?" Kensi asked Sam. He had a huge smile on his face as he got ready to leave.

"Aren't you? Those ignorant jackasses are finally gonna get what's coming to them," Sam said with a smirk on his face. He was already thinking of all the ways he could make them all suffer for what they did to Tim. Revenge was going to be sweet.

"Is everyone ready?" Hetty asked as she entered the room.

"I've been ready for this for a year now," Sam said still smiling.

Hetty gave him a look.

"Oh, you mean am I ready to take down the bad guys. Yeah, I'm ready for that too," Sam said.

"We do have a job to do, Sam. We need to make sure we get these guys and bring Tim home. That's our top priority," Callen said. He was trying to keep a cool head here. He wanted to have a go at Gibbs' team too, but he wanted to try and wait for Tim to be safe first. Emphasis on 'try'. He wasn't sure it would work. He had trouble containing his rage when he saw Gibbs on the monitors. Something told him it was going to be much worse when they were face to face.

"Of course, G. But who says I can't focus on the case and kick some ass all at the same time?" Sam asked.

"Have we gotten any word from Mr. McGee yet?" Hetty asked.

"I just got a text from him," Eric said as he came downstairs with his duffle bag. "It says 'Game change. On route to DC. Someone shoot me."

They all laughed. "If I shoot anyone, it's going to be them," Sam said.

"There will be no shooting of anyone until this mission is completed," Hetty said.

"Of course not, Hetty. I'll wait until Tim's out safe before I shoot them," Sam assured her.

"Alright then. Go on," Hetty urged.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come, Hetty?" Callen asked.

"That would be a mistake, Mr. Callen. The idea is to keep those pathetic excuses for agents alive long enough to aid Mr. McGee in his mission. We're already risking that by sending the four of you. Let's not temp fate too much," Hetty said.

Callen laughed. "We'll keep you posted."

"I'll hold you to that, Mr. Callen. And let try not to get shot this time, alright?" Hetty asked.

"No promises," Callen said as he led the way towards the exit.


	12. Chapter 12

Callen led the way into NCIS headquarter. Director Vance met them at the door. "Morning, Director. We're here as you requested."

"It's good to see you all. Follow me," Vance said. He led them all into the elevator and pressed the floor for the bullpen. "You heard from Agent McGee yet?"

"Right before we left. He's not real happy about being dragged back here to DC," Callen said.

"I'm sure. So aside from that everything's going smoothly?" Vance asked.

"Well, as smoothly as things can be when you're surrounded by drug runners," Sam said.

"Speaking of things running smoothly, that's what I want while you're here. I understand that you all have a lot of animosity towards Agent McGee's old team, but you're going to have to try to set it aside. Am I understood," Vance asked sternly.

"We will not do anything to jeopardize this mission or Tim's safety. I can't promise anything other than that," Callen said. After that all bets were off. He would do his best to keep physical fights at a minimum while Tim was undercover. That was all he could promise.

Vance sighed. He supposed that would have to be enough. He knew even if he ordered it he probably wouldn't be able to stop a showdown between the two teams, and honestly, Team Gibbs deserved whatever Callen and his team wanted to throw at them.

Soon the elevator stopped and they all got out. Vance where Gibbs' team is. "Where's Gibbs?"

"Coffee run," Tony said before standing up. "LA I take it?"

"Yes. DiNozzo, David, Berk, These are Agents Callen, Hanna, Blye, and Mr. Beal.

Kensi eyed Berk. She had to be Tim's replacement. It was the only name she didn't recognize.

Tony smiled at Kensi. "Well, hi there. I'm very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo."

Kensi raised an eyebrow. Had this moron just hit on her? Really? Well, Tim did say DiNozzo hit on anything that moved. "Better men than you have tried and failed."

Ziva began to laugh.

Kensi glared at her. She fully intended to make her feelings towards all these people well known.

"Wow. Friendly people, huh," Tony whispered to Ziva sarcastically.

Alright, well, Eric, how about I get you set up in MTAC. The rest of you can just find some empty desks until Gibbs gets back and then you can debrief everyone. They know the general stuff, but fill them in on your man's undercover Op," Gibbs said.

"Got it," Callen said.

"You guys brought a computer tech. You know we've got like tons of those," Tony said after they left.

Sam glared and took a step towards Tony. "Eric is not just a computer tech. He's the best computer genius this agency has ever had! He can hack into anything and he can find out anything.

"McGeek 2.0," Tony joked.

"What the hell did you just say?" Kensi asked angrily. The jackass had just insulted Eric and Tim all at the same time. She was going to lay the floor with him.

Callen actually had to hold Kensi back. "Whoa, okay, why don't you take a breather alright? Go have a seat."

Kensi took a deep breath and headed towards an empty desk that was far away from DiNozzo. That was best under the circumstances.

"She can't take a joke I see," Tony said.

"That was not a joke, it was an insult. And no one on my team will stand for it. I don't give a damn what you think of Eric's job, but he deserves respect. He's earned it. And if it weren't for the fact that I have an agent out there who's counting on all of us to work together to bring him home, I'd be tearing you apart myself!" Callen said steely. He wanted to make it clear that he did not stop Kensi for DiNozzo's sake. He did it for Tim's. As much as he hated it, there was a good chance he was going to need all of them to help bring Tim home.

"Is there a problem here?"

Callen turned to see Gibbs. "Not as long as your agent keeps his mouth shut from now on. How much do you know about the case?"

Gibbs was quiet for a minute, but then answered. "Not much. Just that a group of drug smugglers are trying to move their product into the military and that your agent has infiltrated the group. What's your goal?"

"We already know who most of the suppliers are and the ring leader is a man named Nico Sanchez. What we want are the guys on the inside. The director isn't taking too kindly to the fact that there are military officials pushing drugs through the armed forces," Callen explained.

"Why not just bust the group? That ends the whole thing," Tony said.

"Because these guys will just find someone else to supply drugs. We want to put an end to all of them and send a message that this won't be allowed to happen," Callen said.

"Tell us about your inside man," Gibbs said.

"He's been in a month under the alias, Carter Baley. His job is supposed to be to meet with military officers involved in the ring and supply them with the drugs. Originally, it was all supposed to go down in LA. They either changed their mind or decided not to tell my guy until last minute. Either way it worries me. It means he may not be as trusted as we thought," Callen said.

"Is it possible he was made?" Gibbs asked.

"No, he'd know if he was made. He's trained to be able to tell and he would alert us immediately. They may not trust him as much as we thought, but his cover is still intact," Callen said.

"When's the last time he made contact?"

"He tested Eric right before we left LA to let us know he was headed this way," Sam said.

"He wearing a wire?" Gibbs asked.

"No. Believe me, we weren't real happy about it, but there was no choice. Some of these guys are pros. If he'd gone in with any type of wire, they would've found it," Callen said. None of them had been happy about letting Tim go in without any kind of backup from them. They'd fought very hard against letting him go at all, but Tim was stubborn and in the end they decided to trust hi judgment.

"When do you expect to hear from him again?" Gibbs asked.

"When it's safe for him to make contact again," Callen said.

"That's not good enough. We need to know what's going on. Call him," Gibbs said.

"No. I am not going to risk my agent's life because you're impatient. Getting him home safe is my top priority. It's the only reason I'm here working with you lot." _'It's also the only reason I haven't torn you all a new one,' _he added to himself.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at his old friend. The way he said that unsettled him. He sounded almost disgusted at the prospect of working with them. This was not the same Callen he'd worked with so many times in the past. "Do you have a problem with me, Callen?"

"I have a lot of problems with you. But I will deal with them in order to protect my agent," Callen said.

"I think you and I should talk in private," Gibbs said.

"I disagree. If we talk in private, it won't end with talking," Callen said. He was already barely containing the urge to deck every single member of Team Gibbs. Well, almost every member. He would leave Tim's replacement alone. She'd done nothing to him or his team. Being alone with Gibbs was not a good idea.

Kensi soon interrupted the two. "Callen, Eric just called my cell. Hetty's on in MTAC. She wants an update."

"Excuse me," Callen told Gibbs before heading for MTAC.


	13. Chapter 13

Callen walked into MTAC and saw Hetty on the screen. "Hetty, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."

"Yes, well, I wanted to make sure everyone was still alive," Hetty said.

Callen chucked. "Well, it was touch and go there for a second when DiNozzo insulted Tim and Eric in one small swoop, but we handled it."

"He said something about me?" Eric asked.

"Yes, but after what Kensi almost did, I don't think he'll be repeating that mistake," Callen said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Mr. Callen. Idiots only know how to be idiots," Hetty said.

Callen laughed again. "Well said, Hetty."

"Any word from Mr. McGee," Hetty asked.

"Not yet, but I'm not too concerned yet. It probably just means that it's not safe for him to call right now," Callen said.

"I want to be informed when he makes contact. And again I ask you to try not to kill the 'good' guys while Mr. McGee's safety status is still questionable," Hetty said. She used finger quotes around the word 'good'.

"I'll do my best," Callen said. Once the connection was cut he turned to Eric. "Pull up Tim's location. I wanna know where he is."

"Activating his GPS chip," Eric said as he typed on his computer. While Tim couldn't safely wear a wire, they could still keep tabs on him through his cellphone. "Looks like he's at a motel not too far from here. The Greenstone."

"Okay. I wanna know if he so much as moves an inch," Callen said.

"Got it," Eric said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"What do you think their deal is?" Tony asked as he and Ziva watched Sam and Kensi.

"I don't know, but they are not the friendliest brunch," Ziva said.

"Bunch, Ziva. Not the friendliest bunch, and no, they're not. I don't remember, Mc... Uh, the unmentionable one saying anything about them being unfriendly during the trip to LA a couple of years ago and Abby said they were cool to her. So what's the problem?

"Well, you probably didn't endear yourself to them by insulting one of their teammates," Berk said from her desk.

"Who asked you, Berkle?" Tony asked.

Berk rolled her eyes. "And you wonder why people don't like you."

"Hey, I resent that. People like me," Tony said.

"You know, I can understand why they do not like you," Ziva said.

"Hey," Tony protested.

Ziva ignored him. "But what do they have against the rest of us? We have not done anything to insult them."

"You know what? I'm gonna find out," Tony said before walking over to Kensi.

"You're way too close to me right now," Kensi said without even raising her head to look at him.

"Listen, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot," Tony said.

"Really? Was that when you tried to hit on me or when you insulted members of my team?" Kensi asked.

"I didn't mean to insult him. It was just a joke," Tony said.

"No, it wasn't like that. I didn't mean anything by it. Your pal just reminded me of someone I used to know. An old friend," Tony said. He didn't really consider McGee a friend anymore, not since he bailed, but he decided not to mention that.

Tony may have thought saying that would've softened Kensi to him, but in truth, it just pissed her off more. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to call Tim a friend. Friends didn't treat you the way Tony treated Tim. "Well, if that's how you speak about your friends, I'd hate to hear you talk about your enemies."

"Everything alright here?" Callen asked as he walked by.

"It will be as soon as Agent DiNozzo gets out of my personal space," Kensi said.

"I'd listen to her if I were you," Callen said.

Tony sighed in defeat and headed back to his desk.

"What did Hetty say?" Kensi asked.

"She just wanted to make sure that we didn't kill anybody. Where's Sam?" Callen asked.

"He took off right after you did. I'm guessing he's heading towards the gym. That's where he usually goes when he wants to hit something and can't hit an actual person," Kensi said.

Soon Callen's phone began to ring. He quickly picked it up. "Callen."

Tim's voice immediately came through. _"Hey, it's me."_

"Can you talk safely?" Callen asked.

"Is that Tim?" Kensi asked.

_"Yeah, but I don't know for how long, so we gotta make it quick. Would I be right in assuming you're in DC and at Headquarters?" _Tim asked.

"You would. How'd you know?" Callen asked. They hadn't been able to tell Tim that they were following him to DC.

_"I know you. I knew you would follow the second you knew where I was going. You all would," _Tim said.

Callen smiled. He was glad Tim knew that. He was glad he knew that they'd always have his back.

"That your agent, Callen?" Gibbs asked as he entered the room. Sam was a few feet behind him.

Tim must have heard his Ex-boss' voice. _"Ah, so you're with Gibbs. That almost makes me grateful that I'm surrounded by a bunch of drug dealers. Better them and Gibbs and associates."_

Callen chuckled.

"What is going on, Callen? Get the information already," Gibbs said impatiently.

"Why don't you just let them talk?" Sam asked irritably.

Gibbs glared at him intensely, something that would've had most people shaking in their boots, but Sam just glared back.

"Give me a status report," Callen told Tim.

_"I'm supposed to meet with the sailor involved in the drug ring the day after tomorrow, but that still leaves Marine and possibly army smugglers," _Tim said.

"Marine Core is covered. The inside guy killed two marines who figured him out and was busted. You're out as soon as this take down is done. We'll get someone to break and give up any more players involved. The sailor should be easy enough to crack," Callen said.

_"Alright."_

"Where's the meet?" Callen asked.

_"I don't know yet. They're keeping that under wraps for the moment," _Tim said.

"Damn," Callen cursed. That complicated things a little. His plan had originally been to be there first so that he could assist Tim if necessary.

_"You want me to press them for the address?" _Tim asked.

"No, that's too dangerous. I don't want them getting suspicious. We'll just have to keep track of your cellphone GPS. Make sure it stays on at all costs," Callen ordered.

_"Got it. Tell Sam not to kill Tony until I get there. I'd hate to miss that."_

Callen laughed. "I think you should worry more about what your partner is going to do to him."

Kensi smirked. She knew immediately what they were talking about.

Tim's laughter came through the phone. _"Okay, now that I have to see. Alright, I gotta go. Someone just walked in."_

"Alright, bye," Callen said before hanging up.

"Well?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"The meet's the day after tomorrow," Callen said.

"Where?" he asked.

"He doesn't know," Callen said.

"What do you mean he doesn't know? He needs to find out!" Gibbs said loudly.

"You're not gonna be happy until my guy ends up dead, are you Gibbs?" Callen asked. He was quite frankly getting very pissed at Gibbs and his pushiness. If it were up to him, Tim would be risking his life unnecessarily left and right. That made him unbelievably angry. "What is he not in enough danger? You wanna see him made?"

"What the hell is your problem, Callen?" Gibbs asked. He was getting really tired of these comments from Callen and his team.

"My problem is that I have an agent out there that is risking his life to see this mission through and it doesn't seem to be enough for you. But then again, when is it ever? You can't help but push your limits, can you? You push and you push until you send people over the edge or force them to run a thousand miles in the other direction!" Callen yelled. The more he spoke about the way Gibbs acted in regards to Tim, past and present, the angrier he became on the younger man's behalf. It was like someone had released all the anger he'd felt for over a year and now there was no way to contain it, no way to stop it from taking control of him.

Gibbs' team was completely silent. They couldn't believe anyone had the guts to talk to Gibbs like that. No one ever had and lived to tell about it.

Gibbs was surprised also. Callen had never spoken to him like this before. He seemed almost bitter about what he was saying. Something very strange was going on. "I don't know what the hell your problem is, but you either need to either come out with it or keep a lid on it."

"You're telling me to act professional? _Me_? Isn't that a bit a little hypocrictical coming from the king of unprofessionalism? And for the record, I tried to as you put it 'keep a lid on it, but you and your team made that impossible. That is if you can even call this a team. You know, I honestly don't know how you made it to team leader status because you suck at it!" Callen yelled.

"We're not doing this here," Gibbs said steely. He was beyond pissed. If Callen wanted to have a go at him, that was fine, but not in front of the entire bullpen.

Callen knew he should stop. As much as he meant every word he was saying, he knew he shouldn't be saying them in front of all of NCIS. However, he couldn't stop. He was passed the point of being able to stop. He was angry and he wanted everyone to know exactly what he thought of Gibbs. "Why not? What them? They already know. I am positive that everyone in this office knows that everything that I'm saying is true."

"G, you gotta stop now. Let's go for a walk," Sam said. Even he knew that his partner was taking it too far. This was not the time or the place for this.

"No! It is about time someone told him what everybody already knows!" Callen yelled.

"Special Agent Callen!" A loud voice boomed.

They all turned to see Vance standing at the top of the stairs.

"My office now," Vance ordered. He clearly was not happy with what just happened.

Callen was finally able to gain control of himself. Seeing his boss with that stern look on his face must have somehow taken him out of the haze of anger he'd been locked in. He took a deep breath and headed up the stairs, leaving both teams stunned silent.


	14. Chapter 14

Kensi watched in shock as Callen went to follow the director and Gibbs stormed off towards the elevator. She then turned to Sam. "Did that really just happen? I thought he was supposed to keep us from losing it."

"Yeah, your boss has quite an anger problem, doesn't he?" Tony asked.

Sam glared at him. "Unless you want to get up close and personal with my anger problem, I suggest you shut up."

"Come on, your boss lost it. He was out of line," Tony said.

"Maybe he shouldn't have said what he did in front of everyone here, but that doesn't mean he was wrong," Kensi said.

"He was dead wrong!" Tony growled. "He had no right to say Gibbs didn't deserve his position. He worked hard to get it! Maybe he's the one that shouldn't be a team leader."

Sam took a step towards him. "You're gonna wanna back off now!"

Kensi got up and got in between them. "Sam, I understand the urge, believe me, but the last thing we need right now is another incident. I think one of us in the director's office is more than enough."

"Before we go home, I am going to wipe the floor with him," Sam vowed before walking away.

"Yeah, you and what army?" Tony called after him.

"Tony that man is twice the size of you and ten times more muscle. He would snap you like a branch," Ziva said.

"Twig. He would snap me like a twig."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Would you care to explain to me what the hell you were doing, Agent Callen?" Vance demanded to know as soon as Callen stepped into his office.

"I lost it. I told you this was going to end in disaster. I warned you, sir," Callen said. Not that he would change coming. He came to ensure Tim's safety. He could never regret that.

"And I told you I wanted this to go smoothly! You assured me that you would do your best to ensure your team held themselves together until the end of this operation. Instead you were the one who couldn't hold it together," Vance said.

"He pissed me off, alright?" Callen asked in exasperation.

"He pisses everybody off! We don't all go starting a screaming match in the middle of the bullpen," Vance said. He certainly understood Callen's anger and the need to express it, but the middle of the bullpen was not the right place for it.

"Well, maybe you should," Callen said.

Vance raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously. Maybe if more people did, he'd actually start to get it. Maybe then he'd treat people like human beings," Callen said.

"That's wishful thinking, Agent Callen. You really think you're the first to express displeasure to Gibbs about the way he treats people. You're just the first to do it in front of the entire bullpen," Vance said.

"I am tired of the constant disrespect of my agent by these people. He's not even here and he's still being treated like he's not good enough. He's out there risking his life and all Gibbs cares about is that it's not happening fast enough to his satisfaction," Callen said.

Vance couldn't say he was surprised. That sounded just like Gibbs. He always set impossible standards, even for his own team. And he supposed that worked for Team Gibbs. They always seemed to meet his expectations. But OSP was different. Their missions were more complex and much more dangerous. They needed to take things slow sometimes or they could end up dead.

"Look, I'm not going to apologize for what I said. It needed to be said and I meant every word. But I realize that it shouldn't have been said in the environment it was. I will do my best to make sure it won't happen again," Callen said. He couldn't promise it wouldn't happen again, but he would do what he could to prevent it.

"See that it doesn't. Dismissed," Vance said.

Callen immediately headed back out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs made his way into autopsy where he found Ducky working up a body.

"Ah, Jethro, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Ducky asked. He'd already given the man all the information he had on their newest case, so it wasn't about that.

"Just needed to clear my head," Gibbs said.

"Ah, yes, I heard about the incident involving Special Agent Callen," Ducky said.

Gibbs wasn't surprised it was out already. Half the building had heard Callen. The scuttlebutt probably started immediately. "I don't know what to make of it, Duck. I have never seen Callen blow up like that. For as long as I've known him, he's always kept a calm exterior. Even when he was so angry he could burst, he held himself together. It takes something very big to get the type of reaction I just got from him."

"Any idea what it could've been?"

Not really. I mean, I wanted him to push his undercover agent a little more than he was so we could get this finished, but that was it," Gibbs said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Jethro, but isn't this agent already putting himself in a considerable amount of danger by doing what he's doing? Perhaps Agent Callen believes that he is already too much at risk as it is," Ducky said.

"Come on, Duck, Tony goes undercover sometimes too and I expect the same from him," Gibbs said. He didn't think he was asking too much by telling Callen to speed his agent along. He'd expect the same thing of his own people. It shouldn't be a problem for Callen's people. They were supposed to be pros at this kind of thing.

"Yes, but when Anthony goes under, he usually isn't under long and it is usually not so dangerous. It's much different than an OSP agent infiltrating a drug ring," Ducky said.

"To me the fact that he's OSP means he should be able to work more effectively. He's supposed to be a pro. Besides, it's not just that. Callen and his team started acting hostile before I pushed him about his agent. It seems to anger them every time one of us speaks and I can't for the life of me figure out why," Gibbs said.

"I thought you and Agent Callen were friends," Ducky said. He didn't know much about the other agent, but he did know that he and Gibbs were on friendly terms. At least they had been.

"We were. That's why I don't get this new found anger towards me. The last time we saw each other, we parted on friendly terms. He obviously does not see me as a friend anymore. He doesn't even seem to respect me. He actually told me in front of everyone that I shouldn't be a team leader," Gibbs said.

"Did he tell you why?" Ducky asked.

"He said that I push people until they wanna run in the other direction," Gibbs said.

Ducky looked away.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "Something you wanna say, Duck?"

"Nothing you want to hear, Jethro," Ducky told him.

"Say it," Gibbs growled.

"There is a certain someone who would probably agree with Agent Callen's assessment. Of course, he isn't here to tell you that because he did, as Agent Callen said, run in the other direction," Ducky said.

Gibbs glared at Ducky coldly. "Don't go there, Ducky."

"I told you you didn't want to hear it. Then again, you never want to hear anything about him, do you? Have you ever thought about why that is?" Ducky asked.

"I know why! He's a deserter and he doesn't' deserved to be mentioned!" Gibbs said angrily.

Ducky huffed in frustration. "He is not in the military, Jethro. He cannot be a deserter! Walking away doesn't make him a deserter. And you know something? I don't think that's the real reason you won't let anyone mention him. You don't want anyone mentioning Timothy because the more you're forced to think about him, the more you will be forced to face the fact that his departure was at least partially on your shoulders."

"I am not responsible for that! I didn't force McGee to quit on his team!" Gibbs yelled.

"Actually, that's exactly what you did. You and your team alienated him to the point where he couldn't take it anymore. Of course I'm not innocent either. I never said one word to defend him to any of you. But at least I acknowledge my mistakes," Ducky said.

"I'm not doing this. This thing with McGee has been over for a year. It's done!" Gibbs said in a tone of finality.

"You're right about that, Jethro. Timothy is gone and he is not coming back. I just hope that wherever he is, he's treated better than he was here," Ducky said.

Gibbs glared at his friend and then stormed out of Autopsy.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony walked out of a coffee shop a bunch of coffees. He figured getting coffee would be a good way of calming Gibbs down after earlier. After all, if Gibbs was unhappy, everyone was unhappy.

Tony was heading back to his car when he noticed something shocking at the cheap motel across the street. There talking to some thugs was Timothy McGee.

Tony immediately walked across the street and approached them. "McGee!"

Tim ignored the call. A year of undercover training taught him to protect his cover at all cost.

"Hey, McGee," Tony said again as he got closer.

"I think that guy's talking to you," the guy on Tim's right said.

Tim finally turned around. "Can I help you?"

"What's with the formal greeting? And what are you doing here? Come to beg Gibbs for your job back?" Tony asked tauntingly.

"I think you have the wrong guy," Tim said.

"Oh, please. I'd no you anywhere. You may have built up the muscles a bit, but I know you," Tony said. He was actually surprised by the buildup. McGee must have been really hitting the weights this last year.

"You know this guy, Carter?" The guy to Tim's right asked.

"Never seen him before in my life, Nico," Tim said. He was hoping that by dropping Nico's name, Tony would figure the rest out and back off.

"Carter? Who the hell is Carter? What's going on here, McConfusing?" Tony asked. Now Tony was utterly confused. Why was McGee acting like he didn't know him and where had he learned to act so well? If he didn't know any better, he'd say McGee was telling the truth when he said he didn't know him.

Tim looked over at Nico. The man was looking at him very suspiciously, as were the other men he was with. He was going to have to do something fast before his cover was completely blown.

Within seconds, Tim had grabbed Tony and held him in a chokehold . Tony started whimpering and gasping for breath. "I said I don't know you. I don't know who you think I am, but I assure you it is not me. Now I suggest you get lost before I make sure you do permanently."

Tony was barely able to nod his head in his current position. He felt like was going to pass out any second from lack of oxygen.

Tim held on a second later for affect and then let Tony fall to the ground.

"Nice job, Carter. Now let's get back inside. We still have a lot to discuss," Nico said.

Tim nodded and followed his 'boss' leaving a shocked Tony on the ground trying to catch his breath.


	15. Chapter 15

Tony walked into the bullpen twenty minutes later looking like crap. His throat and neck hurt like hell and his neck had already started to bruise.

"Holy crap," Kensi said when she got a look at him.

"What the hell happened to you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he got a look at his senior field agent. He momentary turned to find all the OSP team members. They were all at their desks so it wasn't any of them.

"Just a small accident, Boss," Tony lied. He certainly wasn't going to tell them what really happened. It would be a cold day in hell before he admitted that McGee got the best of him. He still wondered how he managed to do that. It had be the surprise of it all. That was it. He hadn't expected it and couldn't properly execute a counter attack. No way would McGee beat him in a fair fight.

"An accident? Yeah right. You just got your ass handed to you," Sam said with a satisfied smirk on his face. He didn't know who did this, but he would have to find out so he could send them a fruit basket.

"Who did this to you, Tony," Gibbs demanded to know.

Whatever Tony was going to say was interrupted by Callen's cellphone. He quickly answered it. "Callen."

_"Okay, do you want the good news or the bad news first,"_ Tim asked through the phone.

Callen leaned forward. "Bad."

_"My cover might, and I emphasize the word 'might', have been blown," _Tim said.

Callen's eyes widened. "What?"

_"Might. I said might, Callen. I think I was able to salvage the situation," _Tim said.

"What situation? What the hell happened?" Callen demanded.

"What's going on, G," Sam asked. He could tell something was up. His partner was way too on edge right now.

_"Tony freaking DiNozzo!" _Tim fumed.

Callen glowered over at Tony, but didn't say anything to him. He was more worried about Tim right now. He could kill DiNozzo for whatever he did later. "What happened?"

_"He approached me right outside the motel we were at. Of course Nico and his crew were there to hear him call me by a different name and say how much he knew me. I tried to get him to back off. I said I didn't know him. I even dropped Nico' name hoping he'd figure it out on his own. No such luck. Finally, I had to put on some kind of show to prove I was loyal and that Tony was just barking up the wrong tree. I roughed him up a little," _Tim explained.

Callen rubbed his eyes. "Abort the mission. Get back here."

_"Callen, no. We can still make this work. I'm pretty sure we're still good. I think I was able to convince Nico that it was just a case of mistaken identity," Tim_ said.

Sam and Kensi went over to the desk Callen was sitting at. "Has he been compromised?" Sam asked. He knew now without a doubt that it was Tim on the phone and that something bad had happened.

Callen raised a hand to stop them from talking. "How sure are you?"

_"Ninety percent."_

Callen sighed. That wasn't so bad, but it was still more of a risk than he liked. He wasn't sure he was willing to let Tim take event hat ten percent chance.

_"Callen, come on, we've worked too hard for this. Just give me a chance to see this through,"_ Tim pleaded.

"Alright, but if you even think you've been made, you alert us and get the hell out of there. That's an order," Callen said firmly.

_"Got it."_

Callen promptly hung up the phone.

"What happened, Callen? Your agent get himself made?" Gibbs asked.

"No. _Your_ agent got him made! Or at least he may have!" Callen growled as he glared daggers at Tony.

"What? That's crazy. I don't even know your agent," Tony said.

"No? So you didn't corner him right outside the motel he was at, in front of NIco Sanchez might I add, and insist you knew him?" Callen asked.

"Oh, I'm gonna kick your ass," Sam said dangerously.

Tony gaped in shock when he realized the implication of what Callen was saying. McGee was apparently the agent undercover. That was why he'd acted like he didn't know. But it didn't make sense. Who in their right minds would put McGee undercover? He barely qualified as a field agent.

Callen got up and approached Tony. "You proud of yourself? You may have just compromised this entire investigation and placed my agent in grave danger!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that McCan'tlie was undercover?" Tony asked.

"What'd you say?" Gibbs asked in shock. Had Tony just said that McGee was the undercover agent on Callen's team? That would certainly explain the open hostility Callen and his team had for them. But it didn't make sense. Why would Vance transfer Tim to OSP? He was no undercover agent.

Callen got right in Tony's face. "You think this is funny? You just put a fellow agent in mortal danger and you think that's something to joke about?"

Tony began to feel more than a little uncomfortable, but he wasn't one to back down. "I didn't put him in danger, you did! You're the one that put him in the situation in the first place. Everyone knows McGeek belongs behind his computer and the real work should be left to the big boys."

Callen was just about to make Tony wish he'd never uttered those words when Kensi beat him to the punch. She grabbed him, twisted his arm behind his back and slammed him into his desk face first. "Would you like to repeat what you just said about my partner?"

Tony yelled out in pain. This was not his day. He was getting abused left and right today. "Get off me."

If anything Kensi tightened her grip. "You don't know the first thing about my partner. He is ten times the agent you'll ever be! He has saved my ass more times than I can count. So if you think I'm going to sit here and let you disparage him right in front of me, you've got another thing coming!

"Call your agent back Callen," Gibbs ordered. He was completely reeling from what he'd just heard about McGee, but he wasn't going to sit there and let his agent get assaulted.

Callen looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Have you not been listening here? Do you really not understand what is happening right now?"

"You mean that you stole one of my people out from under me? Yeah, I got that," Gibbs said steely.

Callen laughed humorlessly. "I stole him? He's not a piece of furniture, Gibbs. And for the record, I didn't have to steal anybody. He couldn't wait to get away from you."

"What the hell is going on now?"

Both teams turned to see Vance above them looking unimpressed. "All of you in my office!"

Kensi finally released Tony and they all went upstairs to Vance's office.

"This is a government Agency, not a free for all! What the hell is wrong with you people?" Vance asked angrily. He knew that things would be tense between the two teams, but this was getting ridiculous. Two fights between them had broken out in a matter of one day.

Tony put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, don't look at us, Director. They're the ones with the anger problem."

"Yes, and I'm sure you did nothing to provoke them," Vance said sarcastically.

"He compromised the entire investigation. _My_ agent's cover may have been blown," Callen said. He put extra emphasis on Tim being his agent for Gibbs' benefit. He couldn't help it. He wanted Gibbs to know what he lost.

"What? What the hell did you do, DiNozzo?" Vance demanded to know.

"I didn't know he was undercover. All I did was go up to talk to him," Tony said.

"And in the process, nearly blow his cover wide open," Kensi said as she glared daggers at him.

"I do not understand this. McGee was transferred to Agent Callen's team? Why? He is not an undercover agent," Ziva said.

"You don't know what he is. You don't know the first thing about him. None of you do. You never cared to know," Kensi said.

"That is not true. He was our friend, our partner," Ziva said, clearly insulted by the other woman' accusations.

"Really? Because he told me he never had a partner before me," Kensi said.

"Callen, have you pulled McGee out?" Vance asked, getting everyone back on task.

"No. He asked me not to. He thinks that he was able to maintain cover when he roughed DiNozzo up. I trust his judgment," Callen said.

"McGee did that to you, Tony?" Gibbs asked in surprise. Tony was a pretty good fighter. McGee wasn't really. Tony should've been able to handle himself no problem.

"He got the jump on me, Boss. If I wasn't so surprised, I would've been able to take him," Tony said.

"No, you wouldn't have," Sam said with a proud smirk. He'd taught Tim everything he knew about fighting. No way would DiNozzo be able to take him in any fashion. Tim could've killed him and the idiot wouldn't have been able to do a thing to stop him.

"Alright, Agent Callen, we'll do it your way. If you think your man is alright to continue, we will," Vance said.

"This is a mistake. McGee shouldn't have been in this mission in the first place. He needs to be pulled out now," Gibbs said. He didn't know what Callen was thinking by putting him under, nor what Vance was thinking by transferring him to OSP in the first place. It was no place for someone like McGee.

"It's not your call," Callen said through gritted teeth. "I will decide what's best for my agents."

"You can all go," Vance said. "Oh, and Agent DiNozzo. If McGee dies, you're done here."

Tony nodded and started to follow Ziva and Gibbs out of the room.

Sam grabbed him by the arm as he was about to leave. "If he dies, you're done period. I will end you."

Tony pulled his arm away and continued out of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Eric was in MTAC with his eyes locked on the computer screen with Tim's location on it. Now that his cover had been compromised, it was more important than ever that he keep a close eye.

"Eric!"

Eric turned just in time for Abby to charge over and throw her arms around him. He immediately stiffened in her embrace. There was a time when he would've loved the affection Abby was giving him now, but that was before he learned that that affection came with a price. A year ago when he was still singing her praises, Tim had filled him in on the way Abby treated those who were devoted to her. He wouldn't be that person. He wouldn't be someone else Abby used.

Abby let go after a minute. "It's so good to see you. I would've come up earlier, but I had work to do. How about we get lunch and catch up."

"I can't. I'm busy," Eric said. That was definitely true enough, but even if he wasn't busy he wouldn't go.

"Come on, you can take a break," Abby said.

"No, I really can't," Eric said.

"Sure you can. Look, if it's Callen you're worried about, we just won't tell him. We can be back before he even notices," Abby said.

"It's not Callen. You see this little red dot here?" Eric asked as he pointed to the computer screen. "That's our undercover operative's GPS chip. If that moves and I'm not here to see it, I could lose a teammate and friend," Eric said seriously.

"Come on, don't exaggerate," Abby said.

"I am not exaggerating! This guy's life is at stake here. That may not matter to you, but it does to me. He's a friend. So I am not taking my eyes off this screen. I will eat here where I can make sure my friend stays safe. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work," Eric said. He then positioned his chair away from her, effectively dismissing her completely.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Callen was sitting on a bench just outside the building with a cup of coffee in his hand. He'd decided to try to get some air before he ended up killing someone.

Gibbs soon approached him.

"Walk away, Gibbs," Callen said without looking to make sure that it was him. He knew who it was and he didn't wanna be anywhere near him. He was still boiling from earlier.

"I wanna know why," Gibbs said. He wanted to know why Callen had kept this from him all this time. He should've told him the minute he got word that McGee was joining his team.

"That question could mean a lot of things. Not that it matters. I don't owe you an explanation for anything," Callen said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"The hell you don't! We were supposed to be friends, Callen. You should've told me he was being transferred to your team." Gibbs said.

"You know, I almost did. I was this close. _This _close. I picked up the phone to make the call right after I found out. But something wouldn't let me dial. Something inside me told me it would be a mistake. And I was right. I know what would've happened if I'd made that call. You would've made the last two weeks of his career on your team even more miserable than they already were," Callen said.

"He was my agent! I had a right to know!" Gibbs growled.

"No, you didn't. More than that though, you didn't deserve to know. You didn't deserve to know anything about him. You treated him like crap when he worked for you. I wasn't going to let you do it after he started working for me.

"I didn't do anything to McGee!" Gibbs said firmly.

"You're right, you didn't. That's sort of the problem. You didn't step in when your other agents mistreated him, you didn't train him properly, and you didn't respect him," Callen said.

"I'm not going to apologize for not stepping in every time DiNozzo made a joke," Gibbs said.

Callen stood up angrily. "Those were not jokes! There is a big difference between joking around and the crap DiNozzo pulls!"

"What did McGee tell you?" Gibbs asked.

Callen shook his head. "No. You are not going to put this on Tim. He is the victim here. He's the one that had to go through every day for seven years as his coworkers treated him like garbage! How long did you think that was going to go on? Did you really think he was going to put up with it for the rest of his life? Everyone has their limits, Gibbs. You finally pushed Tim to his last year."

"If he was having problems than he should've told me," Gibbs said. This wasn't his fault. It just wasn't. McGee was the one with the problem.

"He shouldn't have had to tell you, Gibbs. You should've stopped DiNozzo from the beginning. That was your job as their team leader. But you didn't. You knew what DiNozzo, and the others to a lesser extent, were doing and you let it go on.

"That's just how Tony is," Gibbs said as though that made it okay.

"Is that how you justify it? Is that what you tell yourself to make it okay? Well, it's not okay. It's not okay at all. It was harassment and you're lucky he just left instead of filing a complaint against your entire team!" Callen yelled. The truth was that Tim could've made their lives hell for what they did. They could have brought all of them up against a review board and made sure they all lost their jobs or at the very least had official reprimands put in all their files. Gibbs and his team were just lucky that Tim was too kind for that.

"He should've dealt with it like a man instead of running away like a coward!" Gibb yelled back.

Callen shook his head in disbelief. "You still don't get it, do you? Even after a whole year, you haven't learned a thing. Why should he have to deal with it? Why should he have to put up with that kind of crap? He didn't deserve it. He didn't do anything to warrant it except for not being the typical NCIS agent. Let me tell you something, Gibbs. The fact that he isn't the typical NCIS agent is why he's so good. But didn't get the chance to see that because you didn't want to. You refused to see past what you believed made a good agent and see the potential he had. You broke your own rules."

"What rule are you talking about?" Gibbs asked.

"Rule number five I believe it is. You wasted good. He's good, Gibbs. He's damn good. But you don't believe that, do you? You couldn't see it then because you didn't think a computer genius could be a good agent and you won't see it now because that would mean you were wrong and you really did screw the pooch. Well, the time is going to come when you're going to have to accept that you were wrong. Actually, it's probably going to come very soon. Because by the time this case is over, you're going to have had a front row seat to the agent he's become without you. You won't be able to deny how good he is anymore and how much he's flourished without you. I look forward to that day. I look forward to you trying to make amends with Tim after realizing that you screwed up and him telling you to go to hell," Callen said before walking away from him.


	17. Chapter 17

Ziva and Tony were back at their desks in the bullpen. They were the only ones in their area present, including Callen's team.

Ziva glanced at Tony several times before speaking. "Are really not going to talk about this?"

"What's to talk about?" Tony asked without looking up.

"Are you kidding? You see McGee for the first time in over a year and you think there is nothing to talk about?" Ziva asked in disbelieve.

Tony didn't reply.

"Look, we have never really spoken about McGee leaving and why. Mostly because Gibbs wouldn't allow us to. But now that he is back..."

"He's not back. He's only here because he's on assignment. An assignment his bosses must have been insane to give him I might add. He's not back with us, and that's just fine with me. We don't need him," Tony said.

"Actually, I think you have that backwards. It's Tim that doesn't need you."

They both looked over and saw Kensi.

"Well, look whose back? Come to attack us some more?" Tony asked snidely.

"That depends. You gonna insult my partner some more?" Kensi countered.

"I do not understand. What is your issue with us? You barely know us," Ziva said. She understood that the OSP team was loyal to McGee. She could appreciate that, but she still did not understand why they were all intent on hating them.

"Oh, I know more than you might think. I know you drove a truck that had my partner in it dangerously fast just to make him uncomfortable," Kensi said tightly

"Oh, so McGee's been telling stories, has he?" Tony asked, obviously annoyed at the fact.

Kensi glared at him. "You don't even want to get me started on you. Tell me something, what kind of sick individual laughs at a colleague that has just been tazered?"

"Are you saying that McGee left because of us?" Ziva asked in horror. She knew she and Tony gave McGee a hard time sometimes, but the idea that it made him leave sent her reeling.

Kensi laughed. "You telling me you didn't know that already. Wow, you guys really are stupid. Why else did you think he left? Change of scenery?"

"All Gibbs would tell us was that he left because he couldn't hack it," Ziva said.

That statement had Kensi boiling inside. She wasn't all that surprised by it from what she'd heard about Gibbs and what she'd seen of him, but it still pissed her off. Tim was not some little weakling who couldn't handle the job. He was one of the best agents she knew. He had more determination and strength and anyone she knew and that was before Callen and Sam got through with him training wise.

"And he was right. If McGee can't take a few jokes, he certainly shouldn't be at NCIS," Tony said.

Kensi slammed her hands down on Tony's desk, causing him to back up in his chair. "Are you really this stupid or do you actually enjoy getting your ass beat? I said it once and I'll say it again. Tim is twice the agent you'll ever be. At least he doesn't go around blowing operations and putting agents in danger."

"I didn't know. How was I supposed to know you guys would be stupid enough to put him undercover? He's not an undercover agent," Tony said.

"Actually, that's exactly what he is, DiNozzo. That's pretty much the definition of an agent in OSP," Kensi said as though she was speaking to a small child.

"Well, he shouldn't be then. He sucks at lying. His cover would be blown in like a second," Tony said.

"Really? Because he's been working this case for a month now, as well as dozens of cases before it. Yet, his cover wasn't in danger until you came into the picture," Kensi said.

"He is really that good at it?" Ziva asked.

"Better. He wouldn't be a part of our team if he wasn't. Maybe he wasn't when he first joined us, but I blame you people more than anyone else. You never gave him a chance to shine. You know he was a big part of cracking the first case we worked with him? And that was just days after he joined us," Kensi said. She wanted them to hear all about what they'd lost. She wanted them to know how badly they screwed up.

Ziva looked down. She didn't know what to say. She never really thought about the way she and Tony had treated McGee. She just saw it the way Tony did. She figured they were just harmless jokes. After all, it was really that big a deal, Gibbs would've stopped it, wouldn't he? He wouldn't allow them to hurt McGee. Yet that was exactly what happened. They did hurt him. They hurt him to the point that he no longer wanted to be a part of their team. He'd left them for another team. A team that had treated him with more respect than they ever had. A team that stood by him and helped him grow into an agent he never would've been with them.

Kensi could see that Ziva was thinking about what she said. She could see that she was actually listening. "You finally get it, don't you? Well, I suppose it's better late than never."

"Oh please, Ziva knows that anything that happened with McGee is his own fault. Right, Ziva?" Tony asked.

Ziva didn't answer. She just got up and started walking away from them. She needed to get out of there. She needed to do some serious thinking.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Callen walked into MTAC and saw Hetty on the screen. She didn't look happy. "Mr. Callen, what is this I hear about a brawl in the middle of the office down there?"

Callen grimaced. He knew Hetty was going to have a bit to say about that.

"I thought I told you not to kill anyone until Mr. McGee was back safely," Hetty said sternly.

Callen sighed. "We tried, Hetty. We did, but when DiNozzo compromised Tim's cover..."

"What?" Hetty asked in surprise. The director hadn't mentioned that when he'd apprised her of the new developments.

Callen smiled as he heard Hetty mutter something about spineless directors not telling her everything.

"What happened, Mr. Callen?" Hetty demanded to know.

Callen quickly explained what transpired between DiNozzo and Tony, and about the incident in the bullpen not long after that. "There was no reining anyone in after that, including myself. If Kensi hadn't beaten me to it, I would've messed DiNozzo up."

Hetty huffed. "Of all the idiotic things... How is Headquarters even still standing with morons like that working there?"

Callen chuckled. "You got me there, Hetty."

"Alright, you say that Mr. McGee's cover hasn't been blown, correct?" Hetty asked.

"We don't think it has. Tim said he believes he managed to fix things when he roughed up DiNozzo. I trust his judgment on the matter," Callen said.

"He can't be sure though. Alright, enough is enough. I will be coming down to deal with all these people myself," Hetty said.

"I thought you didn't want to tempt fate," Callen said.

"Yes, well, at that point I still believed that lot had at least a few brain cells between them. Apparently I was wrong. I will see you by morning at the latest, Mr. Callen," Hetty said before cutting off the connection.

"Well, this is going to be interesting," Eric said.

Callen nodded. Truer words were never spoken. Gibbs and his team thought they were bad? They were nothing compared to Hetty. Once she was through with them, there would be nothing left.


	18. Chapter 18

Ducky walked towards NCIS the next morning and saw Ziva sitting on a park bench. She looked horrible. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she was contemplating some serious thoughts. "Ziva, are you alright?"

Ziva shook her head. "Not really. I did not get a blink of sleep."

Ducky decided not to correct her on the idiomatic mistake. "Why? Did something happen?"

"I have been thinking about everything that has happened since I joined NCIS. About how I treated people here. Actually, just how I treated one person in particular," Ziva said.

Ducky went over and sat down next to her. "This is about Timothy."

"Yes. When he left, I was hurt. I didn't understand how he could just leave without saying goodbye. Gibbs never told us why he left. He just said that McGee couldn't handle things here," Ziva explained.

"Yes, well, Jethro is a stubborn man. He refuses to see the truth," Ducky said.

"But what is the truth, Ducky? Did he leave because of us?" Ziva said. Agent Blye had said that he did, but she needed to hear it from someone she knew and trusted. Only then would she be able to fully accept it.

Ducky sighed. "You know I prefer not to speculate on matters such as this until I've heard it from the source, but in this case I think it is safe to say that yes, he did."

Ziva closed her eyes sadly. "Agent Blye told me as much, but I was hoping she was wrong."

"Agent Blye?" Ducky asked in confusion.

"One of the agents from OSP," Ziva said.

"I don't understand. How would they know anything about Timothy's departure?" Ducky asked.

"Because McGee is theirs now. He is part of their team and they treat him better than we ever did. I did not want to see it before, but now I cannot seem to escape it,"

"So Timothy is the agent undercover right now?" Ducky asked as he tried to process what Ziva had told him.

"Yes. I was surprised at first. I did not think of McGee as an undercover agent. But from what I hear from his partner, he is quite good. Apparently all he needed to flourish in this agency was to get away from us," Ziva said sadly.

"It's not a very comforting realization, is it? I had a similar epiphany last year. It didn't take me long to realize why he left. One conversation with Jethro and I understood. I only wished I'd understood earlier. Maybe I could've stopped it before he felt the need to leave. I certainly should've figured it out sooner. The truth is, Ziva, I am just as responsible as the rest of you. I knew what went on between you all and I never did a thing to stop it," Ducky said remorsefully. He wished with everything he had that he had defended Timothy. Even if it didn't change anything at least the young man would've known that there was someone in his corner.

"I've been going through it all in my head. I keep trying figure out the point where it all changed. Where we pushed McGee over the edge. But for the life of me I cannot find it," she said.

"I don't think there is one point, Ziva. I think it was a bunch of things that just began to build up," Ducky said.

"I did not see it. I did not see anything wrong with a few jokes," Ziva said.

"Ziva, I think you know it went beyond that. Timothy was tormented by his colleagues every day. There's only so much of that that a person can take before he decides that he's had enough," Ducky said.

"I did not think it was that bad. Gibbs never stopped it after all," Ziva said. That was what she didn't understand. She thought that if they were really that bad, Gibbs would stop them. But he didn't.

"That doesn't mean that it was right, Ziva. It just means that Gibbs was just as wrong, maybe even more so. The saying is true, Ziva. All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. That is what Gibbs did and that is what I did," Ducky said.

"So what now? How do we make it right?" Ziva asked.

"I'm not sure that we can. Sometimes the damage is too severe to be repaired. I'm afraid that this may be one of those times. We may simply be too late," Ducky said sadly.

Ziva stood up. "Well, I am going to try. I have to."

"Good for you, Ziva. I will as well," Ducky said.

"I had better get inside," Ziva said before heading into the building.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam kept looking to the elevator from his temporary desk with a huge grin on his face. He was looking for Hetty. She would be there any minute and he was looking forward to seeing her tear someone besides them apart. It was going to be extra sweet knowing that it was the idiots that treated Tim like dirt.

"You look like a little boy on Christmas morning," Kensi told Sam.

"Come on, you can't tell me you're not looking forward to this," Sam said.

Kensi looked over at Tony and smiled. Oh, was she ever looking forward to it. Anything to take that smug look off DiNozzo's face.

Sam smiled at her. "I see the look. You are looking forward to it."

"I think we all are," Callen said.

"Where is the imbecile that compromised the safety of one of my agent?"

They all turned to see Hetty standing by the elevator.

"I guess she made it," Sam said.

"Over here, Hetty!" Callen called.

Hetty made her way over to her team. "Mr. Callen, I trust there's been no excitement since the last time we spoke."

"No, but I have a feeling there's about to be," Callen said.

"Hmm. Would one of you point out this so called Agent DiNozzo?" Hetty asked.

"It would be my pleasure, Hetty. He's right over there," Sam said as he pointed to where Tony was sitting.

Hetty immediately headed towards him with the others following behind her. "So you're the imbecile."

"Huh?" Tony asked.

"What you don't even have enough brains to understand English. You compromised a mission over a month in the making, not to mention putting one of my agents in mortal peril. Do you know what I did to the last person who put one of my agents in that kind of danger?" Hetty asked as she leaned dangerously over his desk.

"Hetty, I thought we agreed never to talk about that again," Sam said as he shivered.

"Yeah, that was not pleasant to watch," Callen said.

Tony looked between them. He couldn't tell if they were joking or not. All he knew was that the short old woman was making him more nervous than she should be able to. Gibbs didn't make him this nervous. "I...I..."

"You what? Learn to talk, Agent DiNozzo. No one can understand a babbling idiot," Hetty said.

Meanwhile, Kensi her phone and started recording.

"What are you doing?" Callen asked.

"Tim would kill me if I didn't get this on tape," Kensi said.

"I...I didn't know he was undercover," Tony said.

Hetty turned a little to look at Callen. "Mr. Callen, didn't you say that Mr. McGee dropped Nico Sanchez's name as a hint?

"He sure did," Callen said smiling.

Hetty turned back to Tony. "And that didn't send up a red flag in your small brain?"

Tony backed up in his chair as far as he could.

"It's like you said, Hetty. Idiots only know how to be Idiots," Callen said helpfully.

"What the hell is going on here?"

They all turned to see Gibbs looking none too pleased.

Hetty finally backed off Tony and turned to Gibbs. "And you must by Gibbs. The ignorant fool who threw away the best thing to ever happen to him."

"Excuse me?" Gibbs asked glaring.

"Agent DiNozzo is the who seems to have the stuttering problem, not me. You heard me just fine. Rest assured that you and I will go at it when this is over, but first I must figure out how to undo the damage your idiot... Sorry, your agent caused," Hetty said before turning back to her team. "Where is Mr. Beal?"

"MTAC," Callen said.

"Well, shall we?"

Callen nodded and led the way


	19. Chapter 19

"What do we know, Mr. Beal?" Hetty asked as she and the others walked into MTAC.

"Nothing new, Hetty. Tim's GPS chip is still at the motel where it's supposed to be. It hasn't moved since we got there," Eric said.

"Well, that's something at least," Hetty said.

"Did I miss it?" Eric whispered to Kensi, wondering if Hetty had gone after Gibbs and his team yet. He was really hoping to be there when that happened.

"I got it on tape," Kensi whispered back.

"What was that, Ms. Blye?" Hetty asked.

"Nothing," Kensi said quickly.

"Uh huh," Hetty said clearly not buying it before turning back to the others. "When was the last time Mr. McGee made contact?"

"Yesterday when he let me know that his cover was nearly blown. I doubt he'll make anymore attempts before tomorrow. He won't want to risk things any further," Callen said.

Hetty shook her head. "I don't like the odds of this."

"He was pretty certain that his cover wasn't blown," Callen said.

"Pretty certain isn't good enough. One of you is going in to wire Mr. McGee and ascertain the situation," Hetty said.

"Hetty, we could be putting him in greater risk," Kensi said.

"I don't think the risk can get any greater, Miss Blye. Agent Stupid out there already put moved the risk factor to the maximum. Besides, you won't need to be in long. I just want ears in there. It was a mistake to send him in without it," Hetty said.

"I thought we all agreed that wiring him was too dangerous," Callen said.

"That was when he wasn't already inside. Now that he is, it will be easier, especially if Mr. McGee is right and his cover hasn't been blown," Hetty said.

"So who goes?" Sam asked.

"I would think that would be obvious. Call him, Ms. Blye. Let him know you're going in," Hetty said.

Kensi took out her phone, hit a number on her speed dial and waited for Tim to answer.

_"Hey, baby. What's up?"_

"Ah, you can't talk," Kensi said.

Tim laughed on the other end. _"No, definitely not."_

"It's okay. I just need you to know that Hetty is sending me in to put a wire on you," Kensi said.

_"Sweetie, I miss you too, but that's not a good idea. I'm busy," _Tim said.

Kensi shook her head, indicating that Tim was telling they couldn't go this route.

Hetty took the phone from her. "This is not up for debate. Ms. Blye either puts a wire on you or I shut down this whole operation."

_"Well, alright, baby. I can never say no to you,"_ Tim said.

"Hmm," Hetty commented before hanging up the phone. "Alright, this is how it is going to go. Ms. Blye, you will wire Mr. McGee with a listening device. I'm sure you'll think of something to do so. Mr. Hanna, you will keep watch just across from the motel for the deration". Take the idiot with you. Maybe if he's with you, he won't be able to muck anything else up.

Sam groaned. "Oh, I gotta spend over twenty-four hours with that moron. This is a cruel and unusual punishment."

"Deal with it, Mr. Hanna."

"Fine, but if one of us is dead before the night is over, you only have yourself to blame," Sam said before walking out of MTAC.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You think you can put one of my people in a stakeout without consulting me?" Gibbs asked gruffly. It wasn't that he had a problem with DiNozzo helping in stakeout. He just didn't like that no one talked to him first.

"Yes, I do," Hetty said matter-of-factly.

"This is their case, Gibbs. Their lead. If they say they need DiNozzo then they get him," Vance said firmly.

"Well, it's not so much that we need him as it is that we don't want him stupidly screwing something else up," Hetty said.

"This shouldn't be happening at all. You're gonna put McGee at a greater risk," Gibbs said.

"What do you care? Yesterday you were ready to let him fry. You couldn't have cared less how much danger he was in as long as you got the results you wanted when you wanted them," Callen said.

"That was before I knew you'd sent in an under qualified agent to do the job," Gibbs said. He didn't care what the others said. He did not believe that McGee could handle a situation like this. It was like he'd told Ziva so many years ago. McGee didn't know how to lie. Gibbs had a hard time believing that had changed.

"Unless you want to find yourself laid all over this floor by an old woman, I suggest you shut it," Hetty said dangerously.

"Will this put McGee in greater danger?" Ziva asked. She didn't know about her other coworkers, but she was concerned.

"It could, but for all we know, his cover has been blown. We need ears in there so that we can protect him better," Callen said.

"You're going to allow this," Gibbs asked Vance.

"I am backing Hetty and Callen, yes. They know what they're doing. And despite what you might think, so does McGee. He will make sure he isn't made, if he isn't already because of DiNozzo," Vance said.

"Alright, go, People," Hetty said.

Sam, Tony, and Kensi immediately started towards the elevator.

Once everyone was gone, Vance turned to Gibbs. "MTAC. You too, Agent Callen."

Callen and Gibbs both followed Vance down to MTAC. "What's up, Director?" Callen asked.

"I want him to see," Vance said.

Callen nodded. He understood immediately. "Eric, can you pull up some of our case files?"

"Sure. It won't be as good as if we were in Ops, but I can pull them up on the screen. "What case do you want?"

"Start with the Jackson case," Callen said.

Eric immediately began typing.

"What is this?" Gibbs asked.

Just then a file came up on the screen. "This was our first case with Tim. Two sailors were shot to death. Tim get the information to catch the killer in Interrogation. "The Torres case now, Eric.

Eric immediately pulled it up. Ricardo Torres led a terrorist cell that had plans to blow military base in LA. Tim went in as bomb expert and took them down. That was three months after he joined us. Malloy case. Nick Malloy killed two marines. Tim interrogated him for hours until he cracked. That was three weeks before he went undercover on this assignment. I can show you dozens of cases just like this. You still gonna say my agent isn't competent to do this job?" Callen asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "No. McGee couldn't have done all that." He knew he probably sounded really stupid right now, but he just couldn't believe that McGee was capable of the things Callen had showed up.

"You need to believe that, don't you? You need to believe that he couldn't have done it because then it means you didn't waste his talents. But you did. You left a perfectly good agent behind a desk while you sent liabilities like DiNozzo out in the field. But no matter. Your loss was our gain."

Gibbs stared at the screen once more before storming out of the room.


	20. Chapter 20

Kensi entered the parking lot of the motel and saw Tim leaning against the wall of the brick building. Nico Sanchez was also there.

Kensi put a flirtatious smile on her face and approached them. "Hey, babe." She immediately put her arms around Tim and kissed him on the lips. She was going in as Tim's girlfriend. It was the best way she knew to sell this. Besides, Tim had alluded to that on the phone, so it was likely that Nico would buy it.

Without missing a beat Tim kissed her back. "Hey, sweetie."

"What the hell is this, Carter?" Nico asked. He did not sound happy at all to have Kensi there. "First the moron from earlier and now your chick?"

"What moron?" Kensi asked playing dumb.

"Some dude thought I was someone. That's part of the reason I told you coming here was a bad idea. Look, Nico, I'm sorry. I tried to tell her not to come, but she was insistent and I just can't say no to her," Tim said. More like he couldn't say no to Hetty. But then again who could? Saying no to Hetty was tantamount to committing suicide.

Nico was quiet for a second, but then laughed. "Yeah, I got a girl like that. Woman, you know? Just make it quick though. And no more surprise visitors."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't keep him," Kensi said before turning back to Tim. "I just wanted to see you. It's been so long."

"Don't worry; business will be letting up soon. Then we can take that trip we were talking about," Tim said.

"The Caribbean, right?" Kensi asked.

"Anywhere you want. But I have to get back to work now," Tim said.

"Say no more. I'll take off. Oh, but first, I got you a little something. I just say it and thought of you," Kensi said before handing him a small box.

Tim opened the box and found a large gold pin. It looked like it opened up, so he figured that was where the wire was. He had to give it to Hetty. This was a pretty unique way to go about it. Nico would probably never figure it out. "Thanks, babe. I'll put it on right now," he said before attaching it to his shirt.

"Okay, well, let you guys get back to whatever it was you were doing," Kensi said. She kissed Tim on the cheek and headed out. Once she was in her car, she pressed on her ear piece. "Wire's in place, Sam. I'm headed back to Headquarters.

_"Got it," _she heard Sam say. She then started her car and headed away from the motel.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam was not happy. He'd been stuck in the car with DiNozzo for three hours so far and he'd heard nothing but movie references since then.

"There was this other one where..."

"Hey why don't you let me give it a shot? There are these two agents on a stakeout. One of them murders the other for being so goddamned annoying," Sam said.

"I don't remember that one," Tony said.

"That's because it hasn't happened yet. But I swear, if you don't shut up annoying me, it'll become the next feature film!" Sam said exasperatedly.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be here, okay? I was perfectly content to stay with my team," Tony said.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be here if you weren't such an idiot. You're here so you don't go endangering our agent again," Sam said.

"He was ours first," Tony said under his breath.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"Nothing. Look, how many times do I have to say it? I didn't know he was undercover," Tony said irritably. He was sick of having to explain himself on this matter. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose.

"Would it have mattered if you did know?" Sam asked. Honestly he wasn't sure it would. He had no trouble believing that this fool would out McGee on purpose. This was a man that lived to make Tim's life miserable.

"You think I would actually blow his cover on purpose? How dare you? McGee was my..."

"If the next word out of your mouth is 'friend', I swear to God I'll shoot you! He was not your friend! Actually, no. He was your friend. You just weren't his," Sam said.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about! You don't know anything about me," Tony said.

"Oh, I know everything about you. I know more about you than I care to know. I know you made Tim's life a living hell from the time he joined your team. From before he joined your team actually. He told me you left him at a crime scene by himself all night just because you could. He wasn't even needed there," Sam said.

"Oh, come on, he was a rookie. You can't tell me you've never hazed a rookie before," Tony said.

"Actually, I can," Sam said. Sure he'd given Dom a bit of a hard time when he joined, same with Tim, but only in regards to training and only to keep them alive.

Tony chuckled. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. I know the meaning of professionalism and respect. I don't feel the need to exert my authority by humiliating others. That doesn't make people respect you, DiNozzo. In fact, it makes them hate you," Sam said.

"Whatever. I don't need to justify myself to you," Tony said.

"You couldn't anyway. There's no justification for the way you treated Tim. It was cruel and petty and you should've been fired years ago for it," Sam said.

Tony scoffed. "Does no one on your team know how to take a joke? That's all it was, just jokes."

"Oh, really. You find it funny to put a dog barking CD on your co-worker's computer just after he's been mauled?" Sam asked.

"Come on, his reaction was hilarious," Tony said with a smile on his face.

Sam glared at Tony. It was taking every bit of self-control not to reach over and beat the crap out of the man. "And you have the nerve to call yourself his friend."

"Oh, and I supposed he's just the paragon of perfection," Tony said sarcastically.

"I'd say he's about as close as it comes. The fact that he hasn't murdered you is proof that he's pretty much a saint. I've only known you for a few days and I already wanna kill you. So I suggest you shot the hell up before I make my dream a reality," Sam said.

Apparently Tony had at least a few brain cells left because he stopped talking and turned away from Sam.


	21. Chapter 21

Ziva was heading towards the elevator after her lunch break when she heard Abby's voice from behind her.

"Ziva!"

Ziva turned to face her. "Hello, Abby. I cannot really talk right now. I have a meeting with Director Vance."

"Is it true?" Abby asked excitedly.

"Is what true? Ziva asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"I heard that Timmy was back. Is it true?" she asked again.

"He is in DC," Ziva replied.

Abby felt like jumping up in down in happiness. "I knew it! I knew he couldn't stay away forever. I knew he'd come back."

"Abby..."

"Of course he has a lot to make up for, leaving the way he did and all, but we'll get through it. We always do," Abby said.

"Abby!" Ziva practically yelled.

"What?" Abby asked.

"He is not back," Ziva said.

"Of course he is. You just said so," Abby reminded her.

"I said he was in DC. I did not say that he was back with us. He is not. He is only here because he is on assignment. If all goes well, he will be leaving tomorrow or the next day with his team," Ziva told her.

"What assignment? And what team? Oh, it doesn't matter. We can get him to stay just like we did Gibbs. All he has to do is see us and he'll be begging to stay," Abby said confidently. She was absolutely positive that McGee would stay. He was back with them for good and there was no making her think otherwise.

"There is a very big difference between Gibbs and McGee. Well, actually there are a lot of differences, but there is one major one regarding their reasons for leaving. Gibbs left because of something that happened to him. He was still dealing with the aftermath of being blown up. McGee left because he didn't want to work with us anymore," Ziva said. She knew Gibbs would not be happy about her hurting Abby like this, but she wouldn't protect her from the truth. It was time they all faced the cold ugly truth.

"What? That's not true," Abby said. She refused to believe that. She didn't really know why Tim had left because Gibbs wouldn't tell her, but she refused to accept that it was for the reason Ziva had just said.

"Yes, Abby, it is. McGee did not leave because he wanted a change of scenery. He left because he did not trust us anymore. If he ever trusted us to begin with," Ziva said. She honestly had a hard time believing McGee had ever trusted them. How could he after the sort of things they did to him?

"Why are you saying this? Timmy trusts us. We're family," Abby said.

"When has anyone on this team ever treated McGee like family? We never even treated him like a human being. Tony and I laughed at him and made jokes at his expense, you took advantage of him, and Gibbs just sat back and watched it all happen. Is that really your ideal family?" Ziva asked.

"I never took advantage of Timmy," Abby protested.

They both heard bitter laughter from right behind Abby. They turned to see Eric standing there. "You're joking, right? You never took advantage of him. Are you really that good a liar or do you really believe that crap?"

"What?" Abby asked in confusion. She didn't understand this. Why was Eric coming after her now? What did he even know about it? He'd only met Timmy once and he didn't even really like him.

Ziva looked at Eric. "I will let you continue this. It will not seem as hypocritical as it would coming from me. Besides, I am late for a meeting with the director," she said before walking away.

"Eric, I thought we were friends. You were so nice to me when I was in LA. Now it's like you hate me. What did I ever do to you?" Abby asked.

"It's not what you did to me. It's what you did to a friend of mine. You treated him like garbage. He was your friend when you wanted something from him, but that was it. When he couldn't be useful to you, he was nothing," Eric said angrily.

"How dare you say that to me? You barely knew McGee and you didn't even like him," Abby said.

"No, I was jealous of him. He had your devotion, or at least I thought he did, and that was something I wanted," Eric said. It was true he hadn't been Tim's biggest fan when they met. He'd even been a little hostile to him when he joined their unit, but after Sam nearly tore his head off and explained the situation, that stopped. He started spending some time with Tim and they talked. Tim told him all about Abby and how she used him. "But now I know truth. What he got from you was nothing to envious of. I was lucky not to get it."

"Stop it! You don't know what you're talking about. You don't even know McGee," Abby said. She was starting to get really upset.

"No, you're the one that doesn't know him. You never cared enough to know. I do know him. I work with him every day," Eric said.

"What? Timmy's a part of your team now?" Abby asked in surprise.

"That's right. And you know something, Abby? He's never once tried to get away from us. He trusts us. He knows we'll never stab him in the back or treat him like crap because he dared defend himself against a dog," Eric said. Yeah, Tim had told him about that. He'd wanted to make sure Eric had no illusions about who Abby was. And it had worked. That had ended it for him. He wouldn't be treated that way. "And you dare to call yourself his friend. What kind of person does that to a friend? You weren't his friend. You were his tormentor. All of you were."

"Stop it! Stop saying these awful things!" Abby cried.

"What's going on here?"

They both turned to see Gibbs looking none too pleased.

"I'm going back to my lab," Abby said before running away in tears.

Eric watched her leave. There was not a trace of regret in his eyes. He felt no remorse for it whatsoever. What he said was nothing less than what she deserved.

Gibbs suddenly got in Eric's face. He didn't know what had just happened, but the kid had made Abby cry. That was enough to piss him off. "What the hell did you do to her?

Eric didn't so much as flinch. "I didn't do anything to her. She did it to herself. You can't treat someone like crap and not expect to get crap in return. And if this whole 'in your face' thing is supposed to intimidate me, you can stop now. I'm not afraid of you." He worked with Hetty every day. There wasn't a single person on this Earth that could intimidate him more than her.

Gibbs had to admit the kid had guts. Very few had the nerve to speak to him that way. Though it seemed all of OSP had the courage, if not the stupidity, to do so. "You listen to me. You people wanna come at me, you go ahead, but you leave Abby alone."

"The way she left Tim alone? Tell me something, Agent Gibbs. Have you ever defended Tim the way you just did Abby? I kind of doubt it because if you had he would probably still be here," Eric said.

Gibbs stiffened at the mention of his former agent. He'd been trying to get McGee out of his head ever since Callen and Vance forced him to look at all the cases he'd been a part of. He kept trying to deny that it was real, but it was getting harder and harder, especially with every member of McGee's team there to remind him.

Eric shook his head. "It's amazing. You never lifted a finger to help Tim, yet a few harsh words towards Abby and you're there to play overprotective father. They weren't even that harsh either. I could've said a lot worse to her and I would've been well within my rights. You're worse than all of them, you know. If anyone on our team pulled half the things your team has, Hetty and Callen would've showed them the door faster than you can say 'unemployed'. Yet you just sit back and ignore it. That's what makes you worse. What's it gonna take for you to finally wake up and face the truth?"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You're late," Vance said when he heard the door open. He didn't bother looking up. He knew it was Ziva.

"I am sorry, Director. I was side stepped," Ziva said.

Vance finally looked up at her. "I believe the word you're looking for is 'tracked'. Side tracked."

Ziva frowned. "I was not tracked by anybody."

Vance resisted the urge to snort and got down to business. "You asked for this meeting Agent David. What do you need?"

Ziva sighed. "I cannot do this anymore. Not here, not after the last couple of days. I want to be transferred."


	22. Chapter 22

Vance felt as though he'd gone back in time. It was just a year ago when Agent McGee had said the exact same words to him. 'I want to be transferred'. The first time he'd seen it coming. Not this time. That was the last thing he expected when Ziva came into his office. "You want a transfer. May I ask why?"

"I think you know why, Director. I will not blame anyone else for the way I treated McGee. That is on me and me alone. I treated a man who is only ever been kind to me like trash. I will not hold anyone else responsible for that. With that said, I did assume that if it truly went too far, Gibb would stop it. He did not. It is not an excuse. It is simply how perceived the situation. And I cannot stay on a team that cannot admit that they were so tragically wrong. I fear that I will lose grasp on what I have learned these last couple of days if I do. I cannot allow that to happen," Ziva explained.

"It seems Agent Callen and his team have made quite the impression on you," Vance commented. He was frankly glad to hear it. He was happy to know that at least someone on that team had enough brains to realize the truth.

"Yes, they have. Though it shouldn't have taken them showing up for me to see the truth," Ziva said. She should've figured it out all on her own. She should've known even before she did it that it was wrong to treat McGee that way.

"No, it shouldn't have," Vance agreed. He was glad Ziva felt remorse, but he was not going to absolve her. That wouldn't help her. She needed to keep the guilt for a while.

"If you do not want to transfer me, I understand. I will resign. But I will not stay here. I will not stay on this team," Ziva said firmly. While she did love working for NCIS, she couldn't continue working for a man who could treat an agent under him like he was nothing and have absolutely no remorse for it. It would be no better than being at Mossad with her father.

"That won't be necessary, Agent David. You're a good agent and you seem to have learned from our mistakes. That's enough for me to work with you. Now exactly how soon do want out of here?" Vance asked.

"As soon as possible," Ziva said. The sooner she got away from Gibbs and Tony the better.

"There really aren't any open team positions right now, but if you're in a hurry and you'd be open to it, I can get you an Agent Afloat position for a while," Vance said.

"That is fine," Ziva said. It wasn't exactly her dream position, but if it would get her out of her current situation, she'd do it. Besides, it would only be temporary. Just until Vance could find her a more permanent position. "The only thing I ask is that you allow me to stay here until this case is resolved. I need to see McGee one last time. I need to tell him how sorry I am."

"I understand. Are you prepared for him not to accept it?" Vance asked. McGee wasn't the same meek, amicable agent he was a year ago. He'd been under the tutelage of Agents Callen and Hanna. He was much tougher and more brazen now. There was the very real possibility that he would accept any apologies.

"Yes," Ziva said. She was more than prepared for her apology to be rejected. She expected it. "I am not looking for absolution, nor do I expect it. I just want him to know that I am sorry."

"Alright. I will get working on your transfer. If all goes well, it'll be ready in a couple of weeks. A month at the latest," Vance said.

"Thank you, Director," Ziva said appreciatively.

"Now I offered to let McGee leave clean without any disruptions. Meaning that I wouldn't tell Gibbs until he was gone. He took me up on it. Would you like the same courtesy?" Vance asked.

"That is not necessary. In fact I want Gibbs to know. Maybe it'll help him face the truth," Ziva said. She certainly understood why McGee chose to leave quietly. They would've made his life hell for those last couple of weeks and he'd already endured enough of that. She was a different story though. She would not allow herself to be treated like that, just as she was sure McGee wouldn't now. Gibbs could huff and puff all he liked, but it would have no effect on her.

"Are you sure? Gibbs will not be happy," Vance warned.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want him to know that I am leaving and why. I hope that it will open his eyes a little, but either way, I have made my choice.

"Okay. You're dismissed," Vance said.

Ziva nodded and walked out of the room. She walked down to the bullpen and saw the remaining members of her team and the LA team at their desks.

"Where have you been?" Gibbs demanded to know as soon as he saw Ziva.

"I had a meeting with Director Vance," Ziva replied as she sat down at her desk.

"About?" Gibbs pushed.

Ziva stared right at him. "About my transfer off this team."

That got the attention of everyone, including Callen and Kensi.

Gibbs stood up angrily. "What!"

"Gibbs!"

Gibbs whipped his head around to see Vance leaning over the railing upstairs.

"My office," Vance said before heading back to his office without so much as a glance to see if the other man was following.

Gibbs glared at Ziva. "This isn't over."

"Yes, Gibbs, it is," Ziva said.

Gibbs continued to glare for a minute and then headed up the stairs. He stormed into Vance's office and slammed the door closed. "What's the matter with you, Leon? You not going to be happy until you dismantle my entire team?"

"I was going to ask you the same question. I haven't forced anyone off your team, Gibbs. They chose it. Two of your agents chose to leave because of the way you run your team. What does that tell you? I mean, one agent could be a fluke, but two? You're the one always saying there's no such thing as coincidences. So what does it all mean?" Vance asked.

"What do you want from me, Leon?" Gibbs asked. Vance's previous words echoed in the back of his mind and a part of him knew the man was right, but still wasn't ready to except blame, so he pushed them aside

"I want this to end! I have had it with you thinking you can treat people however you want and expecting them to be loyal to you! This stops now! You get the remainder of your team in check or you're done!" Vance said. He'd finally had enough. He was tired of having to deal with the mess that was Gibbs' team. He should've ended this ridiculous, juvenile crap a year ago, but for that he would've needed McGee to go on record and he just couldn't bring himself to force the kid to do that. Now he was done though. It was time to end it, even if that meant dismantling the entire team and starting from scratch with all new people.

Gibbs stared daggers at Vance for a few seconds before asking, "Is that all, Director?"

Vance nodded. "Fix it or I will."

Gibbs turned around and immediately stormed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the afternoon was eerily quiet between Gibbs' and Callen's teams. None of them spoke so much as a single word. That is until Callen's phone went off at around five.

Callen immediately picked up his phone. "Callen."

Sam's voice immediately flooded through the phone. _"G, we got problems."_

Callen immediately leaned forward in attention. "What's up, Sam?"

_"It looks like Sanchez lied to Tim. They're meeting with the Navy supplier tonight," _Sam said urgently.

"Where?" Callen asked. He then listened as Sam gave him the address. He quickly jotted it down on a piece of paper. "Okay, got it. Follow them. Do not lose them," he said before hanging up.

Callen looked over to see all of his team and Gibbs' looking at him. "We have to move now. The meet is tonight."

"Remember what I said about getting shot, Mr. Callen," Hetty said from the desk she was using.

Callen smiled at her. "I'll do my best, Hetty. Okay, let's move," he said before grabbing his things and leading the way to the elevator.


	23. Chapter 23

The two teams met Sam and Tony across the street from the meeting place, which happened to be an abandoned warehouse. Callen immediately jogged over to Sam. "How long ago did they go in?"

"Not long. Maybe five minutes," Sam said.

"Doors?" Callen asked, wondering how many entrances they had to cover.

"Two. One in front, one in back," Sam said.

"Okay, you take Agents David and Berk and handle the back. Gibbs and I will handle the front," Callen said. Normally he'd work with Sam, them being partners and all, but he didn't trust these other people to not screw something up if left to their own devices. "Kensi, I have a feeling you're not gonna like what I say next."

"Then don't say it," Kensi said with narrowed eyes. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say and he was right. She didn't like it.

Callen smiled sympathetically. "You know how it goes, Kens. We try to keep undercover aliases when they involve missions such as these just in case there's a chance of having to go back under. Sanchez has seen you. You gotta sit this one out."

"You know I hate you right now, right?" Kensi grumbled. She understood why she couldn't go in, but she still hated that she couldn't go in and help her partner.

Callen smirked. "You can keep DiNozzo company since he can't go in either."

Kensi glared daggers at him. Like that was going to make her any happier. "Do you want me to shoot you?"

"Wait, why can't I go in?" Tony asked in a whiney little kid tone. He hated being kept out and it just didn't seem right to him that McGee was in the middle of all the action while he was on the sidelines. It was definitely not supposed to be like that. It was supposed to be the other way around.

Sam gave Callen a 'what the hell' kind of look. "Is he really that stupid?"

"It seems that way," Callen replied.

"Tony, you cannot go in because they have seen you to. They saw you when you stupidly tried to talk to McGee while he was undercover. If you go in there, you will officially blow his cover," Ziva explained.

"Though I wouldn't have let you come in anyway. You've proved that you can't be trusted. Alright, we're wasting time we don't have. Let's go." Callen said before taking out his gun and leading the way to the front door. Gibbs followed him.

They walked inside and immediately started hearing voices. They walked towards the voices until they started seeing faces and then they took cover behind a wall.

Callen peaked over and saw Tim standing next to Nico Sanchez and two other men. There were three others behind him. There was also a man in a navy uniform who looked to be in his early twenties.

"I guess that's your leak," Gibbs whispered.

Callen nodded and waited. He couldn't do anything until they handed over the drugs. He didn't have to wait long.

"Show him the product, Carter," Nico said.

Callen watched as Tim opened a black briefcase with the drugs in it.

"Oh, this is good. I know a lot of guys who would love a taste of this," the sailor said.

"Now," Callen said before stepping out. "Freeze! Federal Agents!"

Nico and his men immediately took out their guns and started shooting.

Callen ducked behind the wall again for a second and then took three shots. One of them hit someone.

The navy sailor immediately started shooting and was being pursued by Sam and Ziva.

Meanwhile, Tim began running towards the back to play his role. He occasionally took shots that he knew would miss.

Gibbs was hot on Tim's trail and managed to tackle him just as he made it outside. Before he could even react though, Tim had pushed him off using the full weight of his body, knocking the wind out of him.

Tim smirked as he got up. He couldn't deny he was going to take some perverse pleasure in this. He waited for Gibbs to get up and then swung.

Gibbs managed to block the shot and then went to go for Tim's arm. He was too fast though. He managed to twirl around and then kicked him in the gut.

Gibbs didn't really have time to deal with the shock of how well McGee was handling himself against him because he was too busy trying to block blow after blow. It wasn't working. He'd taken at least three shots to the jar and a few more kicks to stomach.

Tim knew he was enjoying himself way too much. Honestly if it were anyone else, he would've taken the fall by now, but he enjoyed the look he was seeing on Gibbs' face as he was kicking his ass.

Just as Tim went to kick him again, Gibbs managed to grab his foot sending him off balance and to the floor.

Callen soon came to offer assistance. That was of course after pacing himself for a few minutes. He grabbed Tim, turned him over on his stomach, and pulled his hands behind his back before handcuffing. He then smirked at Gibbs. "You looked like you could use the assist, Gibbs."

This would normally be where Gibbs would glare, but he was too busy trying to catch his breath.

Callen pulled Tim up. "Let's go, showoff," he whispered.

Tim chuckled lightly.

Meanwhile, Gibbs finally managed to catch his breath and he watched in awe as Callen took Tim away.

"Are you alright, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs continued to stare at the area Callen and Tim had just left. "If it had been real. If McGee really had been the enemy, he would've had me." He was awestruck by it, but it was true. McGee had been holding back while fighting with him and he still managed to best him. He didn't even want to know what McGee could've done at full strength.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim was put in the back of a car with Kensi. Tony was in the passenger seat and Callen soon slipped into the driver's seat.

"I take it it went well," Kensi said.

"Yep. The Navy inside man, Jacob Regan is riding with Sam. The others are all dead. And Gibbs' ego had been officially broken," Callen said with a smirk before starting the car and putting it into drive.

"And you made me miss it? You jackass!" Kensi said before slapping Callen on the arm. She then turned to her partner. "So what was it like? How did it feel?"

"Wait, you're saying he bested Gibbs?" Tony asked skeptically. No way. Probie could barely win against a dog."

"You know, it would be very easy for me to kick you out of the car. In fact, I would enjoy it immensely," Callen said. The dog comment really raked on his nerves. All the idiot's comments did, but that one was one of the worst. That crap with the dog was the worst thing that Tim's old coworkers had done to him.

"Don't, Callen. Don't lower yourself to his level, Callen," Tim said before addressing Kensi. "Kens, get these things off me," Tim said.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Kensi said before removing Tim's handcuffs. "So come on, tell me. How was it?"

Tim chuckled. "Later. I'm sure Eric and Sam will wanna hear about it too."

"Oh, alright," Kensi relented.

Tim looked at Tony mischievously. "So, Tony, how's your neck feeling."


	24. Chapter 24

Callen, Kensi, Tim, and Tony arrived back at Headquarters fifteen to twenty minutes later. The others seemed to be back as well because Ziva and Berk were both back at their desks.

"Where's Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Autopsy. Vance insisted he see Ducky," Berk said.

"Come on, he could not have been hurt that bad. Probie was the one punching," Tony said. He still didn't believe that McGee could possibly hurt Gibbs, especially not to the extent where he'd have to see Ducky.

"DiNozzo, the next time you refer to my partner as 'Probie', I'm going to cave your face in," Kensi warned.

Tim put his hand on Kensi's shoulder. "Don't engage him, Kensi. That's what he wants. He's not happy unless everyone's attention is on him. Just ignore him. Soon we'll be gone and we'll go back to pretending he doesn't exist."

"Yeah, like you could forget me. Nobody can forget Anthony DiNozzo" Tony said arrogantly.

"And you make sure of that, don't you? That's why you act the way you do. You want everyone's attention on you. You wanna make sure no one will ever forget you. It's sad really. You're really that insecure that you need to make sure everyone hates you just so they'll remember you?" Tony asked.

Tony laughed. "I'm insecure? That's rich coming from the guy who stuttered incoherently the first year and half with this agency."

"Oh, you sanctimonious little..."

Tim held up her hand to stop Kensi mid-sentence. "Yeah. Okay, I'll give you that one, Tony. I was insecure. Like every other new agent, I was green and I was afraid of failing. But then again who isn't their first year. I got over it. And I didn't have to do it by making someone else feel less than compared to me."

"That's because you are the lowest. You can't get much lower than you," Tony said, obviously trying to bait him. He was getting angry. Usually when he said stuff like this to McGee, he'd back down and walk away in defeat. That wasn't happening this time. He was giving as good as he got.

Tim chuckled. "You know there was a time when that comment would've really bothered me, but not anymore. Your opinion means nothing to me now. I know I'm good. That's something I was taught by my team. They believed in me. That's something I can't say for anyone here. And because they believed in me, I was able to believe in myself. And that's what made it possible for me to forget about you. Because the only contribution you people made to my life was to undermine it. So I simply pretended you didn't exist. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

Tony scoffed. "Oh, please. They probably just told you you were good so you would stop whining. It doesn't mean they really believe it."

Callen glared and took a step forward. "Okay, now you're about one step away from me beating your ass! Don't you ever accuse me of such a thing ever again? I am not you or Gibbs. I don't treat people that way. When I say someone's good, it's because they are."

"Well, then I guess you don't know what good really is," Tony retorted.

"Oh, and I suppose you'd be an expert?" Tim asked. "Tell me Tony. How good could you really be when you go around nearly blowing people's covers?"

"I didn't know!" Tony said exasperatedly. He was sick of having to answer for that. How many times did he have to tell everyone that he didn't know?

"Then you're an idiot. I dropped every hint I could without endangering myself further, but you too busy trying to harass me to notice. Oh, by the way, I have an answer to the question you asked me. You know the one about me coming to beg Gibbs for my job back?" Tim asked before taking a few steps towards Tony. "I would sooner join the Navy and spend the rest of my life getting sea sick on a ship. Leaving this team was the best thing I ever did."

Tony glared, but said nothing. He wasn't sure what to say. For the first time, he had no comeback. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. McGee was supposed to be the one in this position. He was supposed to be the one with nothing to say and with a feeling of failure. Finally he gave up trying to think of something to say and just walked away.

Callen patted Tim on the back. "Nice job."

"That's certainly a first. I've never seen DiNozzo walk away like that before," Berk said.

"Neither have I," Ziva said before clearing her throat. "McGee, may I speak to you in private?"

"Why? You wanna pick up where Tony left off?" Tim asked harshly.

Ziva cringed at the comment, but she knew it was no less than she deserved. "No. I just want to speak with you."

"I suppose," Tim said. He didn't see any harm in speaking to her. There was nothing she or anyone else on Team Gibbs could say that would get to him anymore.

Ziva stood up and led the way down the hall to the conference room. Once they were both inside, she closed the door.

"So what do you want? Make it quick because I'm pretty sure the director is going to want me in his office soon for a debriefing," Tim said.

"First, I want to thank you for agreeing to speak with me. I would've understood if you'd said no," Ziva said.

"Just get on with it," Tim said impatiently. He really just wanted all of this to be done. He wanted to finalize the details of the case and go home with his team.

"I want to tell you I am sorry. I am sorry for my part in driving you away. I did not mean to," Ziva said.

"You didn't care," Tim said.

"That is not true. I cared. I...I guess I just did not realize how much it hurt you. To me it was just harmless fun. I thought you saw it the same way," Ziva said.

"Really? Is that the impression you got after you drove even crazier than usual just to upset me? I was shaking when I got out of the truck. I strained my neck! How can you even dare to call that harmless?" Tim asked angrily.

"I...I don't know. When I think back, I do not see how I ever could have thought that any of it was harmless. All I can say in my defense is that I thought Gibbs would stop it if it went too far. It is not an excuse, just an explanation," Ziva said.

"Yeah, well, I guess Gibbs didn't think I was important enough to defend," Tim said bitterly. While he'd moved on from what happened for the most part, he couldn't deny that he was bitter about the whole thing. If it had been anyone else, Gibbs would've defended them. That went from making him feel insecure to making him angry.

"He was wrong. We all were. I do not know if any of the others will admit that, but I will. I was wrong," Ziva said.

"What do you want from me, Ziva?" Tim asked.

"Nothing. I am not here to beg your forgiveness. I know I do not deserve it. I just wanted you to know I was sorry. This may be the last chance I have to tell you that since we may never see each other again," Ziva said.

"What makes you say that? Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly hope it never happens, but there's always the chance of another joint investigation between us and Gibbs," Tim said.

"I cannot say whether or not that will happen, but even if it does, I will not be a part of it. I am being transferred within the next month. I shall be working as an agent afloat until a permanent position can be found elsewhere," Ziva explained.

"Are you doing this for my benefit?" Tim asked. He knew this had to be something she asked for and if that was the case, he had to wonder if it was to get him to forgive her.

"No. I am doing this for myself. I cannot allow anything like this to ever happen again. Gibbs and Tony will never change. Well, Tony won't at least. I am afraid that if I stay, I will forget what it is I have learned these past couple of days. I cannot let that happen. The best way I know to avoid that is to leave," she said.

Tim nodded. "I understand the the need to get away. I appreciate the apology, Ziva, even if it is late and kind of hollow. I can even accept it."

Ziva breathed a sigh of relief. She did not realize just how much she had wanted his forgiveness.

"But that's as far as I can go. If you're waiting for me to be your friend again, do don't hold your breath. We're not friends and we never will be again. I'm forgiving you for myself, so that I can fully move on," Tim explained.

"I understand," Ziva said. She had already received much more than she deserved given the way she treated him.

"As long as we understand each other," Tim said before walking out of the room.


	25. Chapter 25

Gibbs sat on one of the autopsy tables while Ducky examined his jaw. He wasn't really paying attention though. Instead, he was going over what happened at that warehouse. He couldn't get it out of his head. It shouldn't have been possible for that to have happened the way it did. McGee wasn't a fighter. He certainly wasn't a good enough one to reach Gibbs' caliber. Yet somehow he was. Hell, he'd surpassed it.

Gibbs thought back to the files he'd seen in MTAC. He hadn't wanted to believe any of those things were true. He'd put them in the back of his mind and tried to tell himself that it wasn't true. That McGee simply wasn't capable of that. He didn't want to believe otherwise for the exact reason Callen said. Because it would mean that he really did screw up.

"You're being unusually quiet, Jethro," Ducky said. While Gibbs didn't really say a lot, he'd expected him to be more vocal and displeased with having to be examined. "Well, your jaw doesn't appear to be broken, but it will be quite tender for a while. I must say whoever did this did a thorough job. One more punch and your jaw probably would be broken. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"He got a few good shots at my ribs," Gibbs said.

"Stand up and lift your shirt up" Ducky said. Once he did, Ducky pressed his hand to Gibb's lower abdomen.

Gibbs winced in pain.

"You probably have a cracked rib or two. I won't know without an x-ray though, which you probably won't agree to," Ducky said. He knew his friend very well. He knew that Gibbs was too stubborn to seek the treatment he needed. As it was, he'd only agreed to be examined because he was ordered to.

"Nope," Gibbs confirmed.

"I assume the other guy came out much worse."

"The other guy doesn't have a scratch on him," Gibbs said

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said the mission was a complete success. Did someone get away?"

"No. I didn't say that the person that did this was one of the bad guys. It's the interesting thing about a cover. You gotta do whatever it takes to keep it," Gibbs said.

"Timothy did this to you?" Ducky asked in surprise.

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, you can't be more shocked than I was. He had to fight back in order to preserve his cover. Something tells me he didn't mind much though."

"Yes, well, I can't say I blame him for that," Ducky said.

"Yeah, Duck, I get it. I screwed up," Gibbs said. It was the first time he'd said the words out loud. Saying them didn't make the realization any easier though. In fact, it was even worse.

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is a surprise. It seems that Timothy managed to knock some sense into you. Quite literally I might add."

"You were right. A part of me did always know that I was wrong. From the moment Vance told me why he left to the minute I saw him again tonight, I tried to deny it, but I always knew deep down," Gibbs said.

Ducky huffed. "So instead of facing the truth and fixing what was left of your team, you decided to ignore it."

"Yeah, I know! I don't' need ya to remind me how badly I screwed up anymore. I get it now. There's not much I can do about it now though. McGee's gone and Ziva will join him soon enough," Gibbs said.

"Ziva? Ziva is leaving?" Ducky asked in surprise. He'd known Ziva was having trouble with what they'd all done to Timothy, but he did not know she was thinking about leaving.

"She put in for the transfer this afternoon. Afterwards, Vance gave me an ultimatum. Fix my team or he fires me. The problem is I know that it can be fixed. The damage is already done," Gibbs said.

"Well, you certainly can't undo that damage, but maybe there is a way to mend the broken pieces a bit and make something new," Ducky said.

"I can think of only one way to do that."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony was back at his desk in the bullpen when Gibbs returned. He was downright shocked when he saw him. He was holding an ice pack to his jaw and had quite a few bruises on his face.

"What?" Gibbs asked impatiently when he noticed the look Tony was giving him.

Tony tore his eyes away. "Sorry, Boss. I was just surprised. McGee said he roughed you up a bit, but I figured he was lying."

"Well, he wasn't," Gibbs said curtly before sitting down.

"You let him, right, Boss? You let him get those shots in?" Tony asked.

"DiNozzo, do I look like the type that enjoys getting hit?" Gibbs asked.

"No, but..."

"And have you ever known me not to fight back when attacked?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, no, but..."

"Then why in the hell would you think I'd let anyone assault me?" Gibbs questioned.

"Well, it's just that McGee can't fight. He's soft," Tony said.

"My jaw and my ribs disagree with you," Gibbs said.

"You're saying he actually bested you in a fair fight?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"Let me put it this way, DiNozzo. I wasn't holding back. I gave him everything I had. He didn't," Gibbs said.

"But that doesn't make sense. McGee's never been a good fighter," Tony said.

Gibbs flinched a bit. Tony's words just reminded him of how badly he messed up. McGee had never been a good fighter before because he'd never trained him well enough. "Well, a lot can change in a year. He's an OSP agent now. He had to be a good fighter. I'll be in Vance's office," he said before getting up and making his way up the stairs.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim was heading towards MTAC to see Eric when he caught sight of Abby. He went to walk in the other direction hoping to avoid her, but no such luck.

"Timmy!" Abby yelled before running up to him and hugging him before he could stop her.

Tim immediately grabbed her arms and pulled her off of him. "Don't."

"Don't what? I was just hugging you. I've missed you. I'm so glad you're back," Abby said smiling.

"Who said I was back? I'm wrapping up a case and then I'm out of here," Tim said.

"But you don't have to go back. You can come back to work here. Sure, Gibbs will probably be pissed at you for a while, but that's to be expected. You did leave after all. But he'll get over it and things will be back to the way they were before," Abby said.

"Oh, you mean how everyone was treated with respect but me? How I was the butt of everyone's jokes. How I was treated like your lapdog? Yeah, I'm just itching for that back," Tim said sarcastically.

"That's not true. You know it's not true. It's them, isn't it? Those people are the ones filling your head with all these lies," Abby said. That had to be it. Tim was practically echoing what Eric said to her. They had to be the ones to turn him against them.

That did it. That last comment pissed Tim off like nothing else. "Those people? Did you just call my team, my friends, 'those people'? Those people actually give a damn about me. They actually treat me with respect. They don't make fun of the things I bring to the team. They don't criticize my personal life. Yeah, we joke around and tease each other, but we do it respectfully. They are the reason I am the agent I am today. So don't you ever, _ever_ speak about them like that in presence ever again!"

Abby recoiled as though she'd been burned. "Why are you being so mean? You've never talked to me like this before."

"Maybe that's because I knew what Gibbs would do when you went running to him. We all know you can do no wrong in Gibbs' eyes and that he'd tear anyone apart just for looking at you wrong. Well, I'm not afraid of Gibbs anymore. There's nothing he can do to me anymore. You either," Tim said. Honestly, even if didn't know he could kick Gibbs' ass he wouldn't be afraid of him. He'd learned just after the first few days in LA that Gibbs was not the most frightening person in the world. That title belonged to Hetty. There wasn't a person alive more intimidating than her.

"I've never done anything to you," Abby protested.

Tim shook his head in disbelief. He probably shouldn't be surprised that Abby was this delusional, but he was. "You used me. You knew I had feelings for you and you used that to get me to do things for you. And then when I wasn't useful, you'd throw me aside like garbage. That's why I left. I was tired of being everyone's whipping boy. And that's why I will never ever come back. It's not gonna be the way it was with Gibbs. I'm done. Now if you'll excuse me, I was on my way to see a friend," he said before walking away from her and towards MTAC.


	26. Chapter 26

Tim was in MTAC with Kensi and Eric. He and Eric were loomed over Kensi's shoulders as she held up her phone with the footage of Hetty terrorizing Tony. "Oh, Kens, this is great. You just made my day. Tony looks like he's about to wet his pants."

"Oh, you haven't seen nothing yet. Keep watching," Kensi said with a knowing smile on his face.

Tim watched in fascination as Gibbs walked in and Hetty rounded on him. He started howling with laughter. "Oh my God. Kensi, you have got to send me a copy of this. This is absolutely fantastic!"

"I knew you'd like it," Kensi said before putting her phone down. "Okay, now it's your turn. You have to tell us how you beat up Gibbs?"

"You beat up, Gibbs?" Eric asked in awe.

"Well, I wouldn't say I beat him up exactly. I may have gotten in a few good hits though," Tim said.

"A few good hits? They made him go see the medical examiner. Come on, tell us," Kensi said impatiently.

"Well, maybe we should wait until we get back to LA. It wouldn't be fair to Gibbs," Tim said. He was really just messing with them. He didn't care how fair it was to Gibbs. He just wanted to see Kensi's reaction to making her wait.

Kensi and Eric both glared daggers at him. "You know damn well you don't give a crap about what Gibbs thinks. Just tell us already," Kensi said.

Tim laughed. "Okay, but we should at least wait for Sam. You know he's gonna want to hear this too."

"What do I wanna hear?" Sam asked as he entered MTAC.

"How Tim beat the crap out of Gibbs at the warehouse," Kensi said.

"What? Oh, that aint right. I get stuck chasing down the dirty Navy guy while you get to have all the fun. Man, I've been wanting to pop that guy since I got here," Sam complained.

Tim put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, I was just doing my job. I had to preserve my cover after all. I had no choice but to attack one of my own to maintain my position. I took absolutely no pleasure in it.

"It's not nice to lie to your co-workers, Tim," Callen said as he too came in. "If you recall, I saw the whole thing. You took a lot of pleasure in it."

"Oh, really. Then why'd it take you so long to get to us," Tim asked with amusement.

"Oh, I pulled a muscle in my leg while trying to fend off the drug smuggler," Callen lied.

Tim folded his arms over her chest. "I thought it wasn't nice to lie to your co-workers, Callen."

"Okay, enough, you two. Some of us didn't get to watch. We wanna know what happened," Kensi said.

Tim smiled and immediately started delving into his story.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs was standing in Vance's office. He'd just told the man his plan for 'fixing things'.

"You sure you wanna do this, Gibbs. This won't be like last time. Once it's done, it's done," Vance said.

"I realize that, Leon. I'm not gonna change my mind. You wanted me to fix my team, and short of going back in time, this is the only way I know how to do it. It's too late for me. I've done too much damage. But it doesn't have to be that way for Tony. He can still learn from this and be better. This is the best way I know to teach him that our actions have consequences," Gibbs explained.

"What the hell happened to you in that warehouse?" Vance asked. His agent must have had one hell of an epiphany to do such a complete turnaround like this.

"Let's just say that the truth reared its ugly head so much that I could no longer deny it. I couldn't admit the truth before because I knew that it would end the exact same way it's ending right now. I knew I wouldn't be able to come back from it," Gibbs said.

"Alright. Put it all in writing and have it on my desk by the end of the day," Vance ordered.

Gibbs nodded and turned to leave.

"Gibbs," Vance called. He waited for him to turn back around before continuing. "You gonna at least talk to him?"

"And say what, Leon? What could I possibly say to him now? Sorry?" Gibbs asked as though it were ridiculous. Forget it being against one of his rules, it wouldn't be enough. It would just seem like a hollow attempt at making himself feel better.

"It sounds like a good place to start, doesn't it? Don't you think he deserves that?" Vance asked.

"He doesn't want an apology from me, Leon," Gibbs said.

"How do you know what he wants? You don't exactly know him that well," Vance said.

Gibbs felt like he'd been delivered another blow to the stomach. Not that he didn't deserve it. Vance was right. He didn't know McGee. He'd never taken the time to get to know him. That was part of the problem. "Would you want an apology if you were him?"

"I think I'd at least want to hear the words. Would I accept it? No, probably not, but it would be nice to hear," Vance said.

Gibbs didn't say anything. He just turned and walked out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs walked into the lab and found Abby in her office crying. "Abs, are you okay?"

Abby immediately got up and ran into his arms. "Oh, Gibbs, it was awful. He was so mean."

"Who was, Abs?" Gibbs asked, though he had a pretty good idea of the answer.

Abby pulled away from Gibbs. "Timmy. I saw in the hallway. He was so mean to me. He said I used him. You should've heard the things he accused us of."

"I have heard them, Abby," Gibbs said sadly.

"I just couldn't believe the things he was saying. It's gotta be them. Callen and his team must have put those things in his head."

"Abby..."

"No, it has to be. How else do you explain...?"

"Abby, stop!" Gibbs ordered.

Abby took a step back in shock. "Why are you yelling at me, Gibbs? I already had to deal with Timmy being nasty to me. I don't need you yelling at me too."

"Maybe that's exactly what you need. I'm not going to stand her and listen to you blame others for the way you treated McGee. Not anymore anyway. The way he treated him today was the outcome of how you treated him for several years," Gibbs said.

Abby looked at him in shock. Gibbs had never spoken to her like that before. He was the one person she could count on to always have her back. Now he was turning on her. "Why are saying this. You sound like them."

"Well, they're right. I was too blind to see it before, but they are. Callen and his team are not the enemy here. We are. McGee left because of us. He left because of what we did to him. I've finally accepted that and now you need to do the same," Gibbs told her.

"I didn't do anything to him," Abby insisted.

"Abby, you verbally abused him for defending himself against a dog and then you pressured him into taking in said dog. What do you call that?" Gibbs asked.

"He shot an innocent dog! He was innocent. I proved it," Abby reminded him.

"That's not the point. He was not innocent of nearly killing McGee. I should've said something to you about it then, but I didn't. I just ignored it like I always have. And now I have to face the consequences for that," Gibbs said.

"W...What does that mean?" Abby asked. She didn't like the way that sounded.

Gibbs took a deep breath. He knew Abby was not going to like what he said next. I'm resigning."


	27. Chapter 27

Abby stared at Gibbs in horror. She couldn't have really heard what she thought she heard, could she? "Y...You're what?"

"You heard me, Abs. I'm resigning. This was my last case. As soon as all the paperwork's complete, I'm gone," Gibbs said.

"No, Gibbs, you can't go! We need you. Tony's great and all, but we need you," Abby cried.

"Tony won't be taking my place," Gibbs said. While he and Vance didn't talk about who would be, he knew it wouldn't be Tony. Vance wouldn't allow it and for good reason.

"What? No, you can't leave us with some stranger. You can't leave us at all. We need you," Abby repeated.

"I agree. You need me, Abs. You need me to leave," Gibbs said. He knew she didn't want him to leave, but she needed him to, whether she knew it or not. She needed someone there that would reel her in when she went too far, Tony too. As much as he hated to admit it that wasn't him, and it was too late for it to start being him now.

"Gibbs, why would you say something like that?" Abby asked. That was absolutely ridiculous. She didn't need him gone. How could he even think that?

"Because it's true. You're all better off without me. It wasn't just McGee I failed. I failed all of you. I let you get away with murder, Abby. You have crossed the line many times over the years and you did so because you knew you could. You knew that I wouldn't lift a finger to reel you in and I'd never let anyone else do so either. Same with Tony. I didn't stop you from using McGee. I didn't stop Tony from torturing him," Gibbs said.

"It was just harmless fun," Abby said.

Gibbs shook his head sadly. "If it was harmless, Abs, he'd still be here. I thought it was harmless too. I told myself that he left because he was too weak to handle it. But I knew the truth deep down. He left because he'd had enough. He was sick of dealing with the daily abuse and the lack of appreciation he got from us."

"What does this have to do with you leaving?" Abby asked.

"Who's leaving?"

They both turned to see that Tony had entered the room.

"Tony, you have to help me. Gibbs is planning to resign," Abby said.

"What?" Tony asked as he turned to his boss in shock.

"Not planning on it. It's already done. All that's left to do is submit it in writing," Gibbs said.

"Boss, why? Is this about the fight you lost with McGee? Because I'm sure it was just a flute. McSoft could never really beat you," Tony said.

Gibbs glared at Tony. "Knock it off with the ridiculous names to replace McGee's real one. And it has nothing to do with the fight. Not directly anyway. It did open my eyes though. It made me realize what I've lost. What we've lost."

Tony scoffed. "We didn't lose anything. McGeeks are a dime a dozen."

Gibbs smacked Tony upside the head. "What did I just say about that crap? You keep up with that juvenile crap and you're going to end up where I am real soon."

Tony rubbed the back of his head. "Geez, Boss, that really packed a punch. I don't see what the big deal is. You never had a problem with how I act before."

"Yeah, and look where that got me. Look where it got all of us. This entire team is falling apart at the seams. McGee's gone, so is Ziva essentially. I'm sure if we kept all this up, Berk would eventually be gone too. What will it take for you to see the damage we've done? I finally see it. I don't like what it looks like, but I see it. That's why I'm leaving. I screwed up and there's no going back from it this time. The damage is done and it's too late for me to fix it," Gibbs said.

"No, it's not your fault, Boss. You said so yourself, McGee was just too weak to hack it," Tony said.

Gibbs sighed. "Tony, I said that because I didn't want to accept the truth. Because I knew that once I did, this is exactly what would be happening. I knew that I wouldn't be able to justify staying knowing the damage I'd done to one of my own people. So I made him the enemy and I refused to listen to anybody who tried to tell me the truth. I denied up until the very end. Until it was right in my face and I had no choice but to accept it."

"Gibbs, even if you're right, you don't have to leave over it," Abby said.

"Yeah, I do. I can't justify staying after what I've done and what I've allowed the two of you to do. Actions have consequences, Abby. This mine. I strongly suggest that the two of you think long and hard before it becomes yours too," Gibbs said before walking away and leaving them to think over what he'd told them.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Ducky was in Autopsy cleaning from his last one when he heard someone come in. He looked up to see Tim. "Ah, Timothy. I was just gaining the courage to come and find you."

"Courage?" Tim asked in confusion.

"Yes. I've been debating with myself for the last hour. I wasn't completely certain you wished to see me," Ducky said. He honestly wouldn't have blamed the man for not wanting to see him. To see any of them really. They hadn't exactly endeared themselves to him.

"Of course I wanted to see you, Ducky. I'm sorry I didn't come see you before I left. I didn't want to put you in the position of having to lie to Gibbs and I didn't want him to find out. That would've just made things much worse for me. I just wanted to go quietly," Tim explained.

"Do not apologize to me, Timothy. It is I who owe you the apology. I should've stood up for you when you were here, but I didn't. There is no excuse for that and I will not insult you by trying to come up with one. I was wrong. I'm sorry," Ducky said.

"I never blamed you, Ducky. You couldn't have stopped it. Even if you had spoken up, it wouldn't have changed anything. Because Gibbs didn't speak up. His word is the only one that could've actually made a difference," Tim said.

"I still should've said something. If for no other reason than to let you know that there was someone here on your side," Ducky said. He wouldn't allow himself to be allowed out of this. He needed to be held accountable for what he'd done, or hadn't done would be more accurate.

"It wouldn't have mattered. They still would've kept on and I still would've left. But if it makes you feel better, I accept your apology," Tim said.

"Thank you. It is far more than I deserve. So how are you, Timothy. Are you happy now?" Ducky asked.

Tim smiled. "Yeah, I am. Things are different in LA. I don't have to worry about cutting remarks or practical jokes being played on me. Don't get me wrong, we joke around with each other when it's appropriate, but we all know where the line is and we never cross it."

"I'm glad to hear it. You'll be happy to know that your team defended you quite marvelously while you were gone. Apparently there was almost a brawl in the middle of the bullpen," Ducky said.

Tim chuckled. He'd heard about that. "Yeah, I heard. Callen nearly took Gibbs' head off. And he's usually the calm one."

"So when will you be returning to LA?" Ducky asked.

"We leave in a couple hours. As soon as we wrap up the case. There's some final paperwork to be done. No offense, Ducky, but we can't leave soon enough for me," Tim said. While he was no longer affected by the things his old team said about him, that didn't mean he wanted to stay and deal with them.

"I can certainly understand that. The people here haven't exactly been kind to you. Well, I hope LA continues to be good to you and I wish you luck with the rest of your life, Timothy," Ducky said before sticking his hand out.

Tim gladly took it. "Thanks, Ducky. Good luck to you too. Now I better get back. That paperwork won't write itself."

Ducky nodded.

"Bye, Ducky," Tim said before heading back towards the elevator.


	28. Chapter 28

Tim was at his temporary desk near the rest of his team working on paperwork when he felt another presence. He looked up to see Tony who did not look happy. "Can I help you?"

"Are you happy now?" Tony asked coldly.

"Yes, I am, Tony. Thank you for asking. Of course, I could be happier. I could be back in LA and away from you people. That would make me happier. But I'll be back there soon enough, so I won't complain," Tim said.

Tony glared daggers at his former colleague. "Do you think this is funny?"

"Well, I can't really answer that because I don't know what 'this' is?" Tim said with amusement in his voice. He then turned to his team. "You guys know what he means?"

"I don't speak gibberish," Callen said.

"See I'm fairly fluent in gibberish, I just don't speak stupid," Sam spoke up.

"I don't know either," Kensi said.

Tim turned back to Tony. "Well, there you have it, Tony. You're going to have to elaborate a bit if you want anyone here to understand you."

"You managed to get to Gibbs. He's quitting. You happy?" Tony asked.

To say that Tim was surprised would be an understatement, but he managed to keep his face impassive. "I fail to see what that has to do with me."

"Are you kidding? It's all your fault!" Tony said angrily.

Sam stood up and approached. "Okay, you're going to back off now."

"No, it's okay, Sam, let him go. I'd like to hear this. Please, Tony, tell me how I'm responsible for Gibbs quitting. I haven't even said two words to him," Tim said. It was true. Even when he was kicking his ass, he didn't say a word to Gibbs.

"You turned him around somehow. You got him thinking he messed up with you," Tony said.

"Well, better late than never," Callen said from his desk. It didn't really change anything, but it was nice to know that Gibbs had finally taken his head out of his ass.

Tony glared at Callen. "Shut up. You don't know anything about our team, so why don't you stay out of it."

"You know something, Tony, you're right. This is a team thing. And as no one in this general area is part of your team, leave us all out of it," Tim said.

"You may not be a part of this team anymore, but we're still being affected by you ditching us. First Ziva transfers and now Gibbs decided to resign. You've destroyed us," Tony said angrily.

Tim sighed and looked at Tony with a bored expression on his face. "You destroyed yourselves. What did you think that you could just go through life treating people like crap and you'd never have to pay for it? Everyone has a judgment day, Tony. Welcome to yours," he said before standing up and walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs was seated on a bench just outside NCIS. The same one Callen had been on the day before when he confronted him about Tim. It was amazing how much had changed since then. He'd now accepted the truth about Tim and had resigned from his position.

He never thought it would happen this way. He never thought that when he finally decided to leave for good it would be because he screwed up with a member of his team. He considered that it might be because he screwed up too badly on a case, but never with a member of his team. In many ways, this was worse. Screwing up a case was one thing, but he'd screwed with a man's life. That was the biggest reason he'd decided to walk.

"Agent Gibbs," came the loud voice of an old woman.

Gibbs turned to see Hetty coming towards him. He stood up and steeled himself for whatever she had to throw at him.

"I believe I made you a promise," Hetty said.

Gibbs remained silent. He knew what she was talking about of course. She'd promised him a showdown once the case was closed, which it was. At the time, he had every intention of fighting back when the time came, but not anymore. Not when he knew he deserved everything she sent his way and then. "Give me your best shot."

"Oh, you may want to take that back," Hetty warned. "Tell me, Gibbs, what does good mean to you. What is your definition of a good agent? I only ask because Mr. McGee tells me you have a rule about wasting good."

Gibbs closed his eyes sadly. Oh, how badly he'd broken that rule. He'd shot it to hell. "If you're trying to tell me that McGee's good, I know that. I got up close and personal with how good he is."

Hetty chuckled a little. "Yes, I'll need to congratulate him on improving your face. Tell me, did he improve your brain as well?"

"Yes," was all he said.

"Well, that's something at least. A little late, but still something. So what are you going to do about it?" Hetty asked.

"I've resigned from my position," Gibbs said.

"That seems a little cowardly, doesn't it? You walk away and manage to escape the consequences. Not only is cowardly, but it also seems unsatisfying. Where's the justice in it?" Hetty asked.

"If you think I won't suffer because of this, you're wrong," Gibbs said. He would carry the guilt of what he did to McGee around with him for the rest of his life. It was one of his deepest regrets and it always would be.

"Of course, because your suffering really overshadows his," Hetty said sarcastically.

"I never said it did. I'm just trying to make things right," Gibbs said.

"You can't," said a voice from behind Gibbs.

They both looked to see Tim there.

"Hetty, could I have a moment alone with Gibbs?" Tim asked.

"I suppose I should go see how we're coming along with closing this investigation," Hetty said before walking away.

"If you're leaving for my benefit, don't bother," Tim told Gibbs. "You really think playing the martyr is going to make everything better?"

"That's not what I'm do..."

"Then what? You trying to guilt me into taking responsibility for all of the blood between me and your team? Maybe that's it. Maybe you don't have any intention of resigning. It wouldn't be the first time you 'left'," Tim said.

Gibbs shook his head. "That's not how it is."

"Well, I wouldn't put it past you to do it. Tony certainly thought he could do it. He told me about you resigning and said that it was all my fault. Too bad for him that what he says doesn't matter to me anymore," Tim said.

Gibbs sighed. He was really hoping that he had gotten through to Tony earlier, but it seemed not. Tony was just going to have to learn the hard way it seemed. "He shouldn't have done that. Tim, I'm..."

"You barely ever used my first name when I worked for you and you don't have the privilege of using it now," Tim said coldly.

Gibbs nodded. "Understood. Anyway, my leaving is not on you, it's on me."

"You didn't need to tell me that. Though I am surprised to hear you say it. You usually like to pawn the blame on someone else, preferably me. Even after a year that hasn't changed. My team told me about everything that went down before I got here. How even after all this time, you still tried to blame me for everything," Tim said.

"I was wrong. I'm sorry," Gibbs said. There, he'd said it. He hadn't planned on saying it. He hadn't wanted to burden the kid with his remorse and guilt. But he couldn't help but say it.

Tim raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't expected that. In all the years he'd known him, he hadn't once heard Gibbs apologize. "Wow. Just when I think nothing you do will surprise me. You're breaking your rules, Gibbs."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Gibbs said. His decimation of rule five was still in his head, not to mention rule one. McGee may not have been his partner, but he still screwed him over.

"What do you want me to say? You expect me to just say I forgive you and forget seven years of hell?" Tim asked. He made it clear in the question that he had no intention of doing that.

"Of course not," Gibbs said.

"You know I would've a year ago. That would've been it. A done deal. But I'm not the same person I was a year ago," Tim said. He had changed a lot over the last year, both physically and emotionally. He was no longer the naive guy that let everyone walk all over him. He was stronger now and less tolerant of people like Gibbs and Tony.

"I can see that," Gibbs said. He knew even before this conversation that McGee had changed dramatically. It was obvious right after their first encounter.

"Good. Then this won't come as a big shock. You and your apology can go straight to hell. I don't accept. I don't forgive you," Tim said coldly. It had been different with Ducky and even Ziva. Compared to the others, they'd played minor roles in the way he was treated. Gibbs he blamed the most. He was the one with the power to stop it all and he chose not to. The fact that he trusted Gibbs and looked up to him made it that much worse. He couldn't forgive that, not now anyway. He hoped one day he could. Not for Gibbs' sake, but his own, however, that day was not now. "You can quit, hell you can throw yourself off the nearest bridge, but it won't change anything."

"I know that. I don't expect forgiveness from you, nor am I asking for it. I don't deserve it. I screwed you over and there's not a damn thing I can do to make that better. I'm not leaving to gain your forgiveness. I'm leaving because I don't trust myself to be anything other than what I am now," Gibbs said.

"Meaning a bastard."

Gibbs nodded. "I'm also hoping that with me gone, the rest of the team will learn from all this and start acting the way they should."

"Well, I wouldn't hold my breath, especially with Tony. But it's really not my problem. I'm done with you people," Tim said before turning and walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, The LA team was finally ready to go. Callen led the way towards the elevator, but stopped by Gibbs' team. They were all there, including, Ducky. "Well, I would say it was a pleasure, but..."

"We try not to lie unless we're undercover," Tim finished for him.

"Right," Callen said.

"Ducky, it was great seeing you again," Tim said.

Ducky approached Tim and held out his hand. "You as well, Timothy. Please do what you can to stay safe."

Tim shook his hand. "I always do, Ducky. Ziva, I wish you luck in wherever you go," He might not ever be able to be her friend again, but he did hope she was able to find her place like he'd found his.

"Thank you, McGee," Ziva said.

"The rest of you can kiss my ass," Tim said before following his team to the elevator. He took one last look around before stepping inside. In a way, he was glad he'd come back, even if it was forced on him. He needed this. He needed this closure even if it didn't really change anything. Now it was time for him to go home and leave his old life behind forever.

THE END


End file.
